Greenwash advertising complaints hit record high

2007 was a record year for the Advertising Standards Agency, who received more complaints than ever before about greenwash in adverts.

Complaints increased almost fourfold on year. In total, 556 complaints were submitted about 408 adverts; this is compared to 117 complaints about 83 adverts in 2006.

With the environment high up the agenda for many consumers, companies are keen to promote their green credentials.

However, many of the claims that companies make are open to dispute or are confusing to consumers.

Carbon ‘neutral’ and ‘negative’ were two of the most disputed claims, as well as absolute claims such as ‘wholly sustainable’ or ‘100% recycled.’

Terms such as ’sustainable’ and ‘food miles’ were seen as confusing by consumers, and were the most likely to be misunderstood.

The ASA ended up pulling a number of adverts because of the complaints, including Shell’s advert of flowers blowing out of chimneys, and Ryanair’s advert claiming that aviation accounts for only 2% of global emissions.

So far this year 109 complaints have been submitted about greenwash in 59 adverts.