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June 7th 2023: The UK advertising regulator banned an advert for Spanish oil giant Repsol, seen on the Financial Times’ (FT) online news site, for overstating the firm’s progress to net zero and its production of alternative fuels, such as biofuels. The ads were made by agency DDB Spain.
After a complaint was submitted by Adfree Cities, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned Repsol’s ad on the grounds that it misled citizens by overstating Repsol’s development of alternative fuels, describing this as “a fraction of their business activities when compared to their substantial, ongoing, and expanding fossil fuel production.”
The ads were banned, and the oil major was warned not to mislead in its future marketing communications by omitting material information such as its climate impact or how and when Repsol would achieve net zero emissions, and the role that the development of biofuels would play in that plan.
In response, the New Weather Institute, Badvertising and Adfree Cities wrote a public letter to the Financial Times, to reiterate their request that the paper bans advertising for fossil fuel companies and other highly polluting industries. Read more in Badvertising's blog.
Extract from the public letter:
"We are reiterating our request: that the FT stops promoting high-carbon products and services by allowing its platform to be used for their advertising. We believe this is causing irreparable harm to the climate and communities throughout the world, and that these activities undermine the paper’s sustainability commitments and climate journalism. Outlets including the Guardian, Dagens Nhyeter and Vox Media have already taken this step."
Read the ASA's ruling against Repsol's ads.
Read the public letter to the Financial Times following the Repsol ad ban.
