Nike and Other Ads Banned in UK Over ‘Misleading’ Green Claims

Ads for Nike, Superdry and Lacoste have been banned in the UK for misleading consumers about the environmental sustainability credentials of their products.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said paid-for Google ads run by all three retailers used terms such as “sustainable”, “sustainable materials” or “sustainable style” without providing evidence proving the green claims.

Nike’s ad, for tennis polo shirts, referred to “sustainable materials”. The company said the promotion was “framed in general terms” and argued consumers would interpret it as referring to some, but not all, products offered.

Similarly, Superdry, which urged consumers to “unlock a wardrobe that combines style and sustainability”, said the purpose of the ad was to highlight that it manufactured, sourced and sold a wide range of products that have “sustainability attributes and credentials”.

Lacoste, promoting sustainable kids clothing, said it had been working for several years to reduce the carbon footprint of all its products, but admitted that claims such as “green”, “sustainable” and “eco-friendly” were “very difficult to substantiate”.

The ASA said the UK code of advertising states that environmental claims must be clear and “supported by a high level of substantiation”.

It said that in each case the retailers’ use of the phrase “sustainable” was without any additional information, making the claim “ambiguous and unclear”.

“The claim was absolute and therefore a high level of substantiation in support needed to be produced,” the watchdog said. “We had not seen evidence to support it. We therefore concluded the ad was likely to mislead.”

The ASA also pointed to a lack of evidence to show the products were not detrimental to the environment when their whole life cycle was taken into account.

It banned each of the ads and told the retailers to “ensure that the basis of future environmental claims, and their meaning, was made clear, and that a high level of substantiation must be held to support absolute claims”.

Separately, the ASA also banned an ad for gambling firm Betway featuring Formula One star Sir Lewis Hamilton because it was likely to appeal to under-18s.

The paid-for Facebook ad, which ran before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July, featured a video of three Formula One drivers standing in a grandstand watching a race with their backs to the viewer, with Hamilton’s name written on the back of his red driver’s uniform.

A complainant challenged whether the use of Hamilton broke UK ad rules, which do not allow celebrities who are likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s to appear in gambling ads.

Betway did not dispute that Hamilton has a strong appeal to under-18s, but claimed the way he was presented in the ad limited that appeal because it did not show his face or frontal view.

The ASA said consumers, including those aged under 18, would have clearly recognised the figure as being Hamilton, concluding that the ad was “irresponsible and breached the code”.

By Mark Sweney

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