Unilever’s advertising of one of its laundry detergents, Persil, has been banned for misleading about its environmental benefits.
The TV ad said Persil was “kinder to our planet” and showed children picking up rubbish on a beach.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ad’s claim was unfounded.
Unilever, which owns brands including Hellmann’s and Dove, said it was “disappointed” with the result.
It follows a crackdown by the ASA on “greenwashing” – claims by companies labeling products as eco-friendly, green or sustainable.
The banned TV spot shows beaches full of rubbish and then children picking up the rubbish.
A voiceover said: “For real change, we all have to roll up our sleeves and get dirty.”
On-screen text saying the product “removes stains at 30C” is shown alongside the Persil bottle, which the ad says is made from 50% recycled plastic.
“Hard on stains and kinder to our planet,” the voiceover adds.
A viewer complained to the watchdog that Persil’s claims of being “friendlier” to the planet were unfounded.
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The regulator upheld the complaint, saying the claims could only be justified if the product offered an environmental benefit over other similar products.
“While we have acknowledged that Persil is taking steps to reduce the environmental impacts of its products, we have not seen any evidence or analysis supporting the overall environmental impacts of the presented liquid detergents over their entire life cycle compared to Persil’s own previous products or other products, to the Supporting the claim ‘friendlier to our planet’”, according to the ASA.
Unilever countered that the ad showed its liquid detergent was “friendlier” to the planet because it saved energy by cleaning in quick washes and at lower temperatures. It also said it was “friendlier” because the product used recycled plastic.
A Unilever spokesman told the BBC they were “disappointed” with the ASA’s result.
“We aim to continually improve all of our products to make them more sustainable and will continue to evaluate how we can share this with our buyers,” Unilever said.
The ASA banned the ad because it concluded that the basis of the “friendlier to our planet” claim had not been clarified.
The regulator also said the ad carried “various messages” about Persil’s broader environmental initiatives, including encouraging people to “take personal action to protect the environment” and showing children collecting plastic waste.
“In the context of the entire ad with multiple messages on environmental issues, we felt the meaning and basis of the claim ‘kinder to our planet’ was unclear,” the ASA said.
“Additionally, in the absence of evidence that the product’s full life cycle had a reduced environmental impact compared to a previous formulation, we have concluded that the ad is likely to be misleading,” added an ASA spokesperson.
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