easyJet ads criticised over green claims

Mark Sweney
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday July 2, 2008

The advertising regulator has criticised a press campaign by easyJet for making the misleading environmental claim that its aircraft made 22% less emissions than rival airlines.
EasyJet's press ad, which ran with the headline "Demand a more intelligent approach to aviation", asked questions about whether air travel should be "cleaner".
One question asked "Can individuals help?", with easyJet's response: "Yes. Choose airlines with new aircraft, higher passenger loads, fewer emissions. easyJet emits 22% less CO2*."
This asterisk at the end of the copy linked to text stating that the comparison was between an easyJet aircraft and a "traditional airline" flying the same type of plane on the same route.
The Advertising Standards Authority received one complaint that the ad was misleading because the emission claim was, in fact, based on emissions per passenger rather than total CO2 output.
EasyJet admitted that the claim was based on per passenger figures, but said these were accurate because its planes carried more passengers than rivals, which reduced the CO2 emission figure.
The company said it was "confident" that its calculations backed the claim.
However, the ASA said that the figures used were not based on "emissions produced by an easyJet aircraft or emissions produced by easyJet airline overall" as the ad implied.
"We concluded that ... the ad misleadingly implied that easyJet planes were more environmentally efficient than the aircraft used by traditional airlines," the regulator added.
The ASA told easyJet to be clear that the basis for comparisons was explained in future ads.