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| The green and pleasant land of all our dreams |
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The Advertising Standards Authority plans to tighten the rules surrounding environmental claims. The ASA recently chastised a northern dealership for over-zealous use of ‘green’ terminology, where Volvo models were described as “Kind to the environment.”
A public consultation over the changes is currently underway, with a focus on areas such as health, gambling and others. Note that within the section headed ‘Social Responsibility’ is a proposal “to prevent marketers from exaggerating the environmental benefits of their products.” Not a statement specific to the car industry by any means, but clearly the ASA believes this is an area needing clarification – for the marketeers sake, as well as ours.
Based on the frequency with which the press releases crossing my desk liberally tout phrases such as “environmentally responsible”, “eco-friendly,” and the like, this could well be overdue.
You can let the ASA know your thoughts until June 19th at www.cap.org.uk.
