Lacoste, Nike and Superdry ads get banned in the UK for ‘misleading’ environmental claims

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads by Lacoste, Nike and Superdry for including potentially misleading environmental claims. The advertising watchdog said the rulings formed part of a wider investigation addressing environmental claims in the retail fashion sector.

For Lacoste, the ad in question was a Google promotion stating “Lacoste Kids – Sustainable [...] clothing”. Nike’s ad read “Nike Tennis Polo Shirts – Serve An Ace with Nike [...] Sustainable Materials” and Superdry stated in its own ad: “Superdry: Sustainable Style. Unlock a wardrobe that combines style and sustainability [...].” For all ads, ASA challenged whether the claims of sustainability were misleading.

While each of the companies outlined evidence as to why the terminology was utilised – citing the use of third-party measurement tools, the percentage of “sustainable” materials used in certain products, and in-house requirements – all the ads were removed by the respective brands in response. Both Lacoste and Superdry acknowledged their faults, with the latter recognising that the full life cycle of their products was not publicly available and that they had not considered consumers potentially being misled.

In its report, ASA referred to the Competition and Markets Authority guidance ‘Complying with consumer law when making environmental claims in the fashion retail sector’. Here, the competition watchdog states that broader or absolute claims such as “sustainable” were likely to mislead consumers, potentially leading them to assume the product in question had a wholly positive impact.