Unilever’s Persil advert has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for not being able to evidence that the full-life cycle of the product had a lesser environmental impact compared to a previous formulation.
The TV advert stated Persil was “kinder to our planet”, and featured children picking up litter on a beach. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the advert’s claim was unsubstantiated.
Unilever told BBC News it was “disappointed” with the result, saying, “We are committed to making on-going improvements to all our products to make them more sustainable and will continue to look at how we can share this with our shoppers.”
The ASA banned the advert after it concluded that the basis of the claim “kinder to our planet” had not been made clear.
The regulator said the ad featured “various strands of messaging” about Persil’s wider environmental initiatives, including encouraging people to “personally take action to care for the environment”, and showing children collecting plastic litter.
In the context of the entire ad with several messages relating to environmental issues, we considered the meaning and basis of the claim “kinder to our planet” was unclear
“In the context of the entire ad with several messages relating to environmental issues, we considered the meaning and basis of the claim “kinder to our planet” was unclear,” the ASA said.
“Additionally, in the absence of evidence demonstrating that the full-life cycle of the product had a lesser environmental impact compared to a previous formulation, we concluded the ad was likely to mislead,” a spokesperson from the ASA added.
The ban follows a crackdown by the ASA on “greenwashing”.
The regulator said that the claims could only be justified if the product provides an environmental benefit over other similar products.
“Although we acknowledged Persil were undertaking actions to reduce the environmental impact of their products, we had not seen evidence or analysis to demonstrate the overall environmental impact of the featured liquid detergents over their full-life cycles, compared with Persil’s own previous products or other products, in support of the claim ‘kinder to our planet'”, the ASA said.
Unilever says the advert showed how its liquid detergent was “kinder” to the planet because it saved energy by cleaning in fast washes and at lower temperatures. It also said it was “kinder” because the product used recycled plastic.