Ads for Nike, Superdry and Lacoste have been banned in the UK for exaggerating the environmental benefits of their products and misleading customers.
According to a report by The Independent, The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said ads for all three brands used terms such as “sustainable”, “sustainable materials” or “sustainable style” without providing any evidence to support the claims.
The Google ad for Nike, seen in June, stated: “Nike Tennis Polo Shirts – Serve An Ace With Nike … Sustainable Materials.”
Nike said the ad was “framed in general terms” and was intended to relate to a wide range of Nike products and services, rather than being specific to a particular item.
It said consumers would reasonably interpret the reference to “sustainable materials” as indicating that some, but not all, products offered by Nike contained materials designed to reduce environmental impact, such as items made from recycled polyester.
However, the ASA said: “The claim was absolute and therefore a high level of substantiation in support needed to be produced.”
It found that Nike “had not provided evidence to demonstrate that their tennis polo shirts had no detrimental effect on the environment, taking into account their entire life cycle”.
