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 giants 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."