The practice was recently addressed by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which banned advertisements from clothing brands including Lacoste, Superdry and Nike for misleading green claims. This decision follows an ongoing effort by the ASA to ensure that brands provide clear and substantiated information regarding their environmental sustainability practices.
Even Lacoste’s brand new campaign to launch its children’s clothes collection depicted the clothes as “eco-friendly clothes. The ASA called foul on the authenticity of this claim. They highlighted that the UK’s Advertising Code requires all claims of environmental sustainability to be easily understood and substantiated with significant and robust evidence. Lacoste has been making efforts for many years to reduce the carbon impact of their products. This is making the company very proud of their impacts and efforts in this area.
The ASA’s challenge was specifically against Lacoste’s use of “sustainable” in its paid Google advertisement. This attention shines a light on the increasing frustration and confusion about the misleading nature of sustainability claims in advertising. Both Superdry and Lacoste were given the opportunity to clarify their claims to use the term “sustainable” in their marketing.
Superdry, in an attempt to defend its position, stated that it never claimed that all of its products were sustainable. This new guidance points to a bigger problem in the industry — brands misleading consumers by overstating or misrepresenting their environmental efforts.
Nike was one of the other major companies to be affected by this crackdown. A spokesperson for the company mentioned, “We have engaged with the UK Advertising Standards Authority on this matter and have taken the necessary required actions. We remain committed to providing consumers with clear information to help them make the choices that are right for them.”
The ASA has recently ruled against such major brands. This is part of a broader effort to penalize companies for deceptive greenwashing practices. Ads touting “sustainable materials,” “sustainable style,” and “sustainable clothing” will need to provide much clearer language so consumers aren’t misled.