Wednesday 23 February 2022

Innocent ad banned for greenwashing

Innocent cannot rely on its name this time, as the drinks company has been deemed guilty of greenwashing in its recent TV advert.

The advert has been banned due to misleading claims about how the planet is being polluted and how people’s dietary habits are contributing towards this.

Greenwashing is where a company makes out it is doing more for the planet or environment than is actually the case.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) took action on the advert, following complaints from consumers and campaign group Plastics Rebellion.

It justified the decision due to Innocent drinks bottles including ‘non-recycled plastic’ and stated: “The ads implied that purchasing Innocent products was a choice which would have a positive environmental impact when that was not the case, we concluded that the ads were misleading.”

Innocent commented: "Our advert was always intended to highlight important global environmental issues and the need for collective action to make a change.

"As with any new guidelines, we’d like to work with the ASA and other brands to understand how to align to them to continue the conversation on these important topics."