Shell's flower power claims 'misleading'
Oil giant Shell misled the public with an ad campaign claiming it used its ‘waste CO2 to grow flowers’, the Advertising Standards Authority has found.
Shell's advert depicted the outline of an oil refinery emitting flowers rather than smoke and claimed that Shell uses its 'waste CO2 to grow flowers and waste sulphur to make super strong concrete.'
The ASA found that although Shell had used some of its CO2 to grow flowers it was only a very small amount.
The advert would lead most readers to interpret the claim as all or at least most of the waste CO2 in that way, it said.
Hannah Griffiths, Friends of the Earth's Corporates Campaigner, said: 'We're delighted that Shell has been brought to book for its misleading claims.
'Companies making false green claims do nothing but make the situation worse as they try to pull the wool over people's eyes and lull them into a false sense of security. It's a shame that the ASA does not have more teeth and that Shell wasn't fined for its deceptions.'
The ASA said the ad was no longer running and Shell had given its assurance it would not be used in the future.
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