The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled to remove advertisements by three major oil and gas companies on account of them being 'misleading' with regards to the companies' environmental claims.
The UK's advertising watchdog said the companies omitted significant information from their ads.
For Shell, the watchdog said the company's poster, TV ad and YouTube video about clean energy 'must not appear again in the form complained of, as they might 'mislead consumers if they misrepresented the contribution that lower-carbon initiatives played, or would play in the near future, as part of the overall balance of a company's activities.'
'We told Shell UK Ltd. to ensure that their future ads featuring environmental claims do not mislead by exaggerating or omitting material information about the proportion of their business activities that were comprised of lower carbon activities,' the ASA said.
Repsol's paid-for online display ad in a newspaper about using renewable fuels for more sustainable mobility came under review after concern arose that the company 'omitted significant information about the overall impact of Repsol's business activities.'
The ad should not appear as is in the future, ASA said, and it told Repsol that the basis of environmental claims in future marketing communications must be clear, and to ensure that their marketing communications do not misleadingly omit material information, such as how and when Repsol would achieve net zero emissions and the role that the development of biofuels would play in that plan.
The ASA ruled that Petronas exaggerated the total environmental benefit of its products and services in a TV ad.
Under the ruling, the TV ad will be removed, and the company is expected to 'ensure that their future marketing communications do not misleadingly omit material information.'
By Zeynep Beyza Kilic
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr