In the climate meeting’s approach, due to a series of decisions on environmental damage advertising that failed to properly investigate, evade, and debated, and ASA board members violated the recommendations of their officials.
Pollution
A recent report from Adfree Cities It was found that only 22% of complaints about advertising were investigated by the ASA, and only 2% of complaints were supported. Usually, the advertising campaign has ended by then, so the ruling has no material impact. New and recent examples highlighted include:
- Failure to investigate advertisements containing misleading environmental claims regarding offsets– Known as “greenwashing” – And was arranged by the airline on the eve of the COP26 climate summit Easyjet – The reason given is that the internal policy process is not suitable for routine investigation of advertising.
- Failed to investigate advertisements containing greenwashing statements issued by airlines during the recent European Football Championship Qatar Airways – And in fact those who tried to file a complaint Instructed by the ASA to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom-then the latter told the complainant to return to the ASA.
- Failure to follow up on complaints about misleading greenwashing in advertisements that appeared in the UK Oil company Chevron, The complainant turned to the U.S. regulatory agency for help.
But now the ASA committee has failed to listen to the advice of its officials because the complaints are related to an advertisement made by Jaguar Land Rover, the controversial initiator of a large, heavily polluting SUV.Land Rover vehicles occupy a prominent position in similar products Severely polluted medium and large SUV On the road in the UK.
Blockage
ASA received 96 complaints Advertisement for Land Rover Defender SUV This photo depicts the car in a sun-drenched forest with a caption like this: “There are no limits, life is much better.”
Many complaints believe that it is irresponsible for automakers to arouse people’s opposition to driving rules and vehicles built to protect humans and the environment while selling large and heavy vehicles. Its pollution level is 250% higher than the EU target for ordinary cars.
The complaints also focused on promoting irresponsibility of unrestricted driving in natural areas such as woodlands. The copy in the advertisement says that the test drive they offer has only one restriction, “You have to bring it (the vehicle) back”.
It is more explicit in other respects, saying that the car promises “a whole new free world” and “can go almost anywhere and do almost anything”.
The complaint argues that this is both misleading, because most SUV vehicles end up blocking town streets and cause harm by encouraging driving in ecologically sensitive areas.
Review
After agreeing to investigate the advertisement and review the evidence and the different reasons for filing a complaint against its code of conduct, ASA’s expert staff developed a draft ruling to support this aspect of the complaint.
It found “The advertisement encourages and condones the use of vehicles in a way that is harmful to the ecologically sensitive environment, and is therefore irresponsible to society.”
Therefore, the regulator concluded that the advertisement violated its social responsibility rules.
However, the draft ruling needs to be approved by the ASA committee, which rejected the findings of its officials, freeing Land Rover from its predicament.Although ASA only Recently announced In other words, “advertising that encourages unsustainable behavior or behavior that may harm the environment…will require stricter regulatory review.”
fuel
The reason for not supporting the complaint is that the “mud splashing” seen on the vehicle “may be a common feature of vehicles driving in rural areas and does not necessarily indicate irresponsible use”.
Robbie Gillett of Adfree Cities activities described the regulator as “too slow, too reluctant to investigate, and if they do, they lack any enforcement means, and the advertising industry’s “self-regulatory” system is not suitable for its purpose.
He said: “They have always lacked the sense of urgency to address the role of advertising in the climate crisis. Business as usual.
“The ASA Commission’s assessment of this Land Rover ad was too narrow, failing to look at it from a broader perspective such as the worsening climate crisis, the increasing number of SUVs in cities, and the fatal increase in air pollution. Ultimately, we need the central government to prohibit Advertise high-carbon products (such as SUVs, airlines, and fossil fuel companies).”
Supervision
The ASA recently claimed that its approval has turned green, but based on current evidence, smoking exhaust pipes or jet engines appear to be more appropriate symbols of regulatory agencies’ “green” efforts. Before taking action, you may want to know how bad the ads are.
Like an insurance company that is unwilling to pay, the ASA seems to focus most of its energy on finding more creative reasons for not taking action, rather than following their rules. Although they made public statements on environmental issues, the ASA neither grasped the seriousness and urgency of the problem, nor found a way to put their green comments into policy practice.
Calls for a thorough reform of the ASA’s structure and funding are increasing to reduce its prejudice against the interests of the advertising industry. Moreover, because climate and ecological emergencies pose greater systemic risks than smoking, a tobacco ban on the advertising of high-carbon products such as automobiles, SUVs, airlines, and fossil fuel companies will soon be seen as the logical next step. .
The EU recently accepted a European Citizenship Initiative – The first step in the formal regulatory process – the call It’s such a ban.
This author
Andrew Sims Is the co-director of the New Weather Research Institute, Rapid Transformation Alliance, deputy director Globally Responsible Scientist And a research assistant at the University of Sussex.
action
You can take action Oppose advertisements that contribute to climate emergencies.
