The ASA has ruled in favour of the oil company Aramco in relation to some ads on LinkedIn, Google and Instagram announcing the company's partnership with the Aston Martin F1 team. The ads featured imagery of the racing car bearing Aramco sponsorship, and referenced research into ultra-efficient hybrid internal combustion engines and "advanced fuels." They emphasised the potential for new automotive technologies to improve performance both on the track and on the road.
The New Weather Institute brought a complaint against these ads on the basis that they were misleading because they omitted significant information about Aramco's overall environmental impact, and that references to "advanced fuels" were potentially misleading because the basis of this claim wasn't clear. Aramco argued that the ads simply announced the F1 partnership and its technological research priorities, stressing that they did not promote Aramco's broader environmental credentials. They also noted that references to "advanced fuels" were meant to highlight performance benefits rather than any specific environmental claims.
The ASA didn't uphold the complaints. It found that the ads focused predominantly on the partnership's potential to enhance F1 and road-car performance, rather than emphasising environmental claims or commitments. Although there were brief mentions of future ambitions related to fuels and lower emissions, the ASA deemed these references incidental and not misleading.
This decision is an important reminder that, while there is a line to be tread when it comes to making environmental claims, the ASA will not imply an environmental claim where one isn't made. However, it is interesting to note that while the ASA held that the ads focussed predominantly on the partnership between Aramco and Aston Martin F1, the ASA did acknowledge that, per a page of Aramco's website which was linked to from the ads in question, that the partnership aimed (in part) to have a positive environmental impact. In this instance, the ASA appears to have not thought this a strong enough connection to deem the ads themselves to be making environmental claims.
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