Salmon Tasmania has overturned an Ad Standards ruling that forced it to pull an advertising campaign accused of making misleading environmental claims.
The industry body successfully appealed the June decision, which found its ‘Tasmanians Depend on Salmon’ campaign breached the Australian Association of National Advertisers’ Environmental Claims Code after complaints the ads misrepresented the environmental impact of salmon farming.
The campaign, which featured a 15-second social media ad and a 90-second cinema commercial, ran on 7Plus, 9Now and SBS On Demand. The ads used footage captured by an underwater drone beneath salmon pens at Nubeena to challenge public perceptions about the industry.
In the longer version, the drone operator can be heard saying” “People are under the perception that underneath the pens is just a wasteland of sludge. It’s not that at all. We’ve seen every inch of these farms above and below the water.”
He adds: “Yes, it’s definitely not what the critics say it is,” before saying “the idea that the salmon industry isn’t transparent is frustrating” and urging viewers to “don’t just believe everything you hear”.
The campaign was the subject of a complaint to the Ad Standards Community Panel, which alleged it made false claims about the environmental impacts of salmon farming.
In June, the panel ruled the ad breached Section 1 of the Environmental Claims Code, which requires environmental claims to be truthful, factual and not misleading or deceptive.
At the time, the majority of the panel found the campaign created a broader impression than the specific location shown in the footage.
“The panel considered that the broader suggestion that the ad represented the typical reality of salmon farming across Tasmania was likely to mislead the target customer,” the June ruling said.
As a result, Salmon Tasmania was directed to withdraw the campaign.
However, the organisation appealed the decision, arguing the panel had incorrectly interpreted the advertisements as referring to all salmon farms across Tasmania, when the footage and claims related specifically to farms in the Nubeena area.
“Advertising complaints can raise complex issues, which is why Ad Standards has an independent review process to ensure decisions are fair, robust and consistent with the advertising codes,” Ad Standards executive director Greg Wallace told B&T.
“In this case, the Community Panel reconsidered the matter and reached a new decision. This demonstrates the transparency and accountability of Australia’s advertising self-regulatory system and shows the review process working as intended,” added Wallace
Salmon Tasmania also argued it had demonstrated that salmon farming complied with mandated environmental standards.
Following an independent review, the matter was referred back to the Ad Standards Community Panel for reconsideration.
The panel has now overturned its earlier decision, clearing the campaign after reassessing the evidence submitted by Salmon Tasmania, which means the advertisements are no longer considered to be in breach of the Environmental Claims Code.
