British regulators have banned a Virgin Atlantic radio ad, which claimed the airline operated a flight from London to New York JFK with 100% sustainable aviation fuel because a ‘significant proportion’ of listeners might be fooled into thinking that the flight operated without any negative environmental impacts.
The ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was made after just five people complained about the radio ad, although regulators haven’t been shy to reprimand airlines over unsubstantiated environmental claims—a ploy that is often dubbed ‘greenwashing’.
Virgin Atlantic made the disputed radio ad after it operated the first-ever transatlantic flight using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – a term that has been adopted by the aviation industry, as well as various governments and international organisations to describe aircraft fuel which isn’t made from fossil fuels.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is far more environmentally friendly than traditional aviation fuels, but it is still polluting, and development in SAFs is still ongoing. In fact, most aviation regulators require airlines to mix or blend SAFs with fossil fuel-derived fuel because it is so new
So, when Virgin Atlantic operated the first transatlantic 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel flight last November, it meant that the flight used only 100% SAF and no traditional aviation fuel.
At the centre of the greenwashing complaints about the Virgin Atlantic ad was whether using the term 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel could confuse consumers who might be mistaken for thinking that the fuel used by Virgin Atlantic was 100% sustainable.
In its response to the ASA investigation, Virgin Atlantic said it believed consumers would know that using the term “100% sustainable aviation fuel” in a radio ad referred to a specific type of less polluting aviation fuel rather than a claim that the the flight operated 100% sustainably.
The airline even ran its own survey to see whether listeners understood the meaning of the ad, but it turns out that only 68% understood that SAFs could still have an adverse impact on the environment.
In its ruling that found against Virgin Atlantic, the ASA said that a significant proportion of listeners could be confused into thinking that Virgin Atlantic operated a transatlantic flight which was 100% sustainable.
Virgin Atlantic hasn’t been barred from making future ads about its sustainability efforts but the ASA has warned the airline that it must include key context and explanations for relevant terms to ensure that consumers aren’t mislead into believing that the airline is more sustainable than it actually is.
Last April, the ASA also ruled against Etihad Airways after it was accused of exaggerating its green credentials in several Facebook ads shown to British consumers, while German flag carrier Lufthansa was reprimanded over an ad that appeared on its website that claimed it was ‘protecting the future’ of the planet.
