British regulator banned advertising of Nike, Superdry and Lacoste due to greenwashing

The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned advertising from three popular fashion brands: Nike, Superdry and Lacoste. The reason is the violation of the rules of 'greenwashing', where companies exaggerate or fail to substantiate their environmental claims.

The ASA examined complaints against all three companies and found that their environmental claims in advertising were unfounded and misleading to consumers. General statements about 'sustainability' were used in the advertisements, which lacked sufficient evidence.

Decisions and companies' responses

Nike claimed that information about sustainability became available to consumers after the advertisement was shown, while Superdry and Lacoste also used general statements about sustainability in their ads. However, the ASA decided that their claims were misleading and imposed a ban on these ads.

This decision is part of the ASA's initiative to combat 'greenwashing' in advertising, where companies inflate their environmental credentials for their own benefit. Similar violations have previously been found in advertisements from companies such as Innocent, Wizz Air, Lloyds and Total Energies, and it is likely that the ASA will continue to take action to prevent such cases in the future.