A new Aussie study into “green” claims by advertisers on Facebook have shown many of them to be meaningless.
The study by the Consumer Policy Research Centre and published on ABC.net.au examined local ads featured on the social media platform that had been viewed 20,000 times.
The ads might say a product is “sustainable” or “green” or “environmentally friendly” or simply feature emojis like ♻ or 🌿.
According to the ABC’s reporting, the study found many brands sprouting their green credentials “can slip between the cracks of advertising rules to give their products a green vibe, without ever having to justify it”.
The Consumer Policy Research Centre’s Chandni Gupta said of the results: “Overall, it was clear that most ads are vague, unhelpful, and really unclear.
“It’s really hard to put two products side by side that have used the same green claims and be confident that they’re offering the same thing,” Gupta said.
Lead researcher Professor Christine Parker added the analysis revealed the three most common words brands use in making claims were “clean”, “green”, and “sustainable”.
“They don’t necessarily mean anything,” the Professor said. “In some cases, if you went to the company’s website and dug into it, you might find information about what these terms mean.”
“But we think that’s too much of a burden on the consumer.”
A number of brands were also called out for using nature and the ocean to falsely convey green credentials.
Another common emoji was the “Mobius loop” symbol ♻, used to signify a product has used recycling.
Gupta added: “There is a mix of the terms, the imagery, colours, and even emojis that, when you put them all together, they create a real green halo effect. It can give the impression that something might be more environmentally friendly than it actually is.”
Professor Parker added: “Often products with a green claim will be sold at a higher price point.”
According to the ABC’s reporting, the ACCC and other industry watchdogs “are now taking a greater interest in environmental claims, and a sweep of advertisers conducted earlier this year uncovered several cases it has been investigating”.
It follows on from a story from B&T this week (read it HERE) about South Australian yoghurt manufacturer MOO Premium being busted by the ACCC for falsely claiming its containers were made from “100% ocean plastics”.
The ACCC found that since November 2021, MOO claimed its yoghurt tubs are made from “100% ocean plastic”. The watchdog was concerned this gave the impression they were made from plastic waste collected directly from the ocean when this was not the case. While MOO included disclaimers on the top and back of the packaging, the ACCC considered they were insufficient to overcome the headline representation of ‘100% ocean plastic’.
