Shell misled motorists with fuel saving campaign, watchdog
rules
19 October 2011
The advertising watchdog, The Advertising Standards Authority
(ASA), has today (19 October) banned a promotional campaign by
Shell UK Ltd for misleading motorists.
According to the ASA a flyer campaign by the energy giant which
said customers could 'save up to 1 litre per tank* at no extra
cost' were misleading, exaggerated and could not be substantiated
because the company could not prove that at least 10% of vehicles
in the UK would save one litre in every 50 litre fill up.
Nina Best, advertising law expert at Browne Jacobson,
commented:
“This judgement is a big blow to the energy giant’s latest
campaign and possibility its credibility with the motorist who is
already facing sky high prices at the pumps.
“Shell should have carried out its tests on a statistically
significant proportion of UK cars - the ASA suggested 10% - before
claiming all cars on the UK market would achieve the saving.
“This is an important reminder to companies to ensure any claims
they base their marketing campaigns around are significantly sound
and scientifically robust.”