May 6, 2010
Renault Ad Banned Over Misleading Green Claims
An advertisement from Renault has been found to be misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority.
According to the UK watchdog, an ad for electric vehicles claimed “the well-to-wheel efficiency of a Renault Fluence Z.E. will help reduce CO2 emissions by at least 90% compared to a current Diesel model.”
Small print stated “Comparison between a Renault Fluence Z.E. (basis: French average electric mix) and a model from an identical category: Renault Megane Hatch 1.5 dCi (85HP) emitting 133g CO2 well-to wheel.”
The complainant objected that the 90 percent figure was based on the French electricity generation mix, which with its heavy dose of nuclear, has significantly lower levels of CO2 emissions than electricity produced in the UK.
Renault claimed that they qualified the claim in the footnote and believed that anyone reading the ad as a whole would not be misled.
ASA found that the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) and that the ad must not appear again in its current form.
You can find news on other ASA adjudications here.
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Reader Comments
As a Renault owner I am disgusted at this misdirection from Renault. I love their cars but I may have to think again if this is the sort of marketing strategy this intend to promote. Companies have got to learn that lying about environmental benefits will damage their bottom line as sales drop off. It takes 20 years to build a reputation and only 5 minutes to lose it — someone once said. The car industry had better take note.
Karl Cox | May 7th, 2010
Check out some more of Renault’s current over-enthusiastic green claims at http://wp.me/pQuyf-cY
To get involved in a 7000+ member forum, with a peer-to-peer working group dedicated to customer engagement and environmental performance, go to http://www.2degreesnetwork.com
Conrad Young | May 7th, 2010
Renault twisted facts in their favour and did not say UP FRONT what the baseline comparison was. Had they done this, we would not be writing here!
Iain | May 8th, 2010