In consecutive weeks two press ads in BMW’s high profile “Joy/EfficientDynamics” campaign recently ran out of road with “complaint upheld” findings by the ASA over emissions claims. Omar Bucchioni gets back on the well-worn trail of car makers who should know better over-cooking green claims.
Topic: Environment
Who: ASA, BWM (UK) Ltd
When: August 2010
Where: UK
Law stated as at: 31 July 2010
What happened:
Recently the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated two press ads for BMW in their “EfficientDynamics” campaign.
1) “100% JOY 0% EMISSIONS” Ad
The first ad was headlined “100% JOY 0% EMISSIONS”. The advert also stated “The BMW Concept ActiveE is the first BMW to be powered purely by electricity … Thanks to its electrifying performance and zero CO2 emissions when driving, the ActiveE redefines BMW EfficientDynamics”. The small print stated “BMW EfficientDynamics reduces BMW emissions without compromising performance development”.
A complainant challenged whether the claims “0% EMISSIONS” and “zero CO2 emissions when driving” were misleading, because the car needed to be charged with electricity from the National Grid, which, in turn, would result in the production of emissions.
What BMW had to say
BMW said that the headline claim “0% EMISSIONS” was supported in the body copy by the claim “zero CO2 emissions when driving”. They were adamant that the inclusion of the phrase “when driving” was enough to specify the claim and not mislead readers as the claim was limited to when the car was in use and did not suggest the car was zero carbon across its life cycle.
What the ASA had to say
The ASA investigated the BMW Concept ActiveE and understood that a car needed to be powered by electricity to operate. The ASA felt that the claim “0% emissions” was likely to be interpreted by readers to mean that the cars use would not result in the production of emissions.
The ASA noted that the vehicle was only able to operate because it had been charged with electricity from the National Grid, which, in turn, would result in the production of emissions, contrary to the claim “0% emissions”.
Overall, the ASA was not very impressed.
2) “JOY MAKES THE MOST OF EVERY DROP” Ad
The second ad was headlined “JOY MAKES THE MOST OF EVERY DROP”. The text underneath stated “Joy presses you back in your seat. It’s a lesson in EfficientDynamics – our way of doing more with less. Part of the thrill of being in an accelerating BMW is knowing nothing is going to waste. High Precision Fuel Injection gives you abundant power, using less fuel. So you can step on the accelerator, knowing Joy will minimise the CO2 emissions. The story of Joy continues at bmw.co.uk/joy. THE BMW Z4 sDRIVE35is JOY IS FUTUREPROOF. BMW EfficientDynamics Less emissions, More driving pleasure”. Small print at the bottom of the ad stated “Official fuel economy figures for the Z4 sDrive 35is Roadster: Urban 22.4 mpg (12.6ltr/100km). Extra Urban 40.9mpg (6.9ltr/100km), Combined 31.4mpg (9.0ltr/100km). CO2 emissions 210g/km. BMW EfficientDynamics reduces BMW emissions without compromising performance developments and is standard across the model range”.
A complainant raised the issue as to whether the ad was misleading because it implied that the CO2 emission level of 210 g/km was low, when it was still relatively high.
What BMW had to say
BMW said the ad communicated that the BMW model had an EfficientDynamic system which resulted in reduced emissions without compromising performance development. They were adamant that they were not making a general point about low emission levels, but that the emissions were minimised for a high performance car.
They said that compared with competitor models the Z4 35is produced the lowest CO2 emissions. In addition, they said that despite the performance of the car increasing if compared to the previous Z4 Roadster, the CO2 level had decreased from 292 g/km to 210 g/km.
What the ASA had to say
The ASA considered the evidence submitted by the BMW which showed that the Z4 35is had lower CO2 emissions than the previous Z4 model and also had lower emissions than five other vehicles in the same category. However, they felt that the claim was likely to be interpreted as a non-specific fuel efficiency claim and that most readers would infer from the text that the vehicle range’s emission rate was low regardless of category and that the comparison was therefore being made against all cars.
The Department for Transport fuel economy bandings classified vehicles A to M depending on their CO2 emissions with band A, at fewer than 100 g CO2/km, being the lowest and band M, at greater than 256 g CO2/km, being the highest. The Z4 35is BMW, at 210 g CO2/km was in band K.
Since an emission rate of 210 g/km was relatively high for any car, despite being lower than BMWs previous model and some competitors’ similar specification vehicles, the ASA concluded that the ad was likely to mislead without further qualification.
Once again, the ASA was not very impressed.
Why this matters:
“100% JOY 0% EMISSIONS” Ad
In previous similar cases on electric cars, the ASA took the view that, when electric vehicles were powered by electricity from the National Grid, with a fuel-mix predominantly from non-renewable sources, a zero emissions claim was likely to mislead.
This time BMW added the phrase “when driving” so one would have expected leniency on part of the ASA even considering the BMW efforts in clarifying the claim. However, the ASA considered that the phrase did not help in clarifying the claim but was in fact contradictory to the overall zero emission claim and the impression that the car’s use would not result in the production of emissions.
The ASA therefore concluded that the claims “0% emissions” and “zero CO2 emissions when driving” were likely to mislead and the BMW advert breached the CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 49.1, 49.2 (Environmental claims).
The ASA asked BMW not to show again the advert in its current form. They told BMW not to repeat claims that stated or implied that an electric vehicle would produce zero emissions in use. It is important to note that the meaning given by the ASA to “when in use” includes when the vehicle is switched off and stationary (i.e. when recharging).
The case is reported on the ASA website.
“JOY MAKES THE MOST OF EVERY DROP” Ad
The ASA was not impressed by BMW arguments and ordered the ad to not appear in its current form.
Advertisers and brand owners should note that BMW failed to make it clear whether it was comparing CO2 emissions against their immediate competitors or its own previous products. This was an important difference when the BMW model, despite being very good in fuel efficiency against cars of its category and previous BMW, was far from being very good in fuel efficiency against all cars. Accordingly the ad fell foul of the Advertising Code.
The case is reported on the ASA website.
