In the United Kingdom, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered BMW and MG to eliminate some advertising on the web relating to electric models and plug-ins.
This is to prevent car manufacturers from falling into the practice of greenwashing, i.e. the incorrect use of communication linked to ecological issues.
The action was triggered by complaints lodged against a Google advertisement first seen in August 2023. The Mg brand in particular was banned from using this advertising campaign again and asked to use the 'zero emissions' definition. ' with greater caution.
The Advertising Standards Authority has now told MG not to present plug-in hybrid models with petrol engines in its public communications.
And also to pay attention that this term - when used for pure electric models - explicitly indicates that 'zero emissions' refer only to those measured at the exhaust".
The case of BMW is different which - unlike Mg - advertised last summer only pure electric vehicles. The ASA contested the claim of 'zero emission cars' found on some of the company's web pages intended for promotion to consumers.
BMW's British subsidiary justified itself by stating that the expression 'Zero "Emission Cars' had been used generically together with other keywords to help users in their searches on Google. And that the statement had a general value to identify this market area.
BMW confirmed that it had interrupted l use of the keywords Zero Emission Cars and will disable the automatic keyword feature in Google Ads in future.
The Advertising Standards Authority said the BMW advert was in breach of rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Cap Code misleading advertising - edition 12 ) and those 3.9 (qualification) and 11.1 (environmental declarations).
Asa, however, took note that for the advertising of the Monaco company in the United Kingdom the indication 'zero emissions' referred only to the driving phase on the road.
And he welcomed BMW's assurance that this claim will not be repeated in the future.
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