Nike advertisements, along with those from Superdry and Lacoste, have been banned in the U.K. for misleading consumers about the environmental sustainability credentials of the products.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K.’s ad watchdog, said Google ads paid for by the three retailers used terms such as “sustainable”, “sustainable materials”, or “sustainable style” without evidence to support the green claims.
Nike said its advertisement, promoting tennis polo shirts with the tagline “serve and ace with Nike… sustainable materials,” was framed “in general terms” and highlighted the wider sustainability of its products. However, the ASA ruled Nike had failed to include qualifying details and had not explained the basis of its claim about the “sustainability” of its products.
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 U.K. code of advertising states that environmental claims must be clear and “supported by a high level of substantiation.” It also said that, in each case, the retailers’ use of the phrase “sustainable” lacked 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 organization 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 showing that the products were not detrimental to the environment when their entire life cycles were considered.
The ASA 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.”
Images courtesy Nike/ASA
