Land Rover told not to run ad again suggesting driving a SUV helps to save planet

The advertising watchdog has told Land Rover not to re-run a controversial advertisement suggesting that gardener Diarmuid Gavin was living a more sustainable life by driving one of its vehicles.

Gavin was one of four “brand ambassadors” in a campaign which ran in several national newspapers online and in print last summer promoting the Land Rover Defender Hard Top, which retails for €76,500.

The headline stated: “How Diarmaid Gavin is planting the seeds of a more sustainable lifestyle”. The advertisement, which appeared as a sponsored article, explained the vehicle’s mild hybrid technology “fits in with his sustainability goals”.

The ASAI’s complaints committee noted that Land Rover had produced no evidence to back up these claims nor that driving a Defender Hard Top was “planting the seeds of a more sustainable life” or enhancing Mr Gavin’s “sustainability goals”.

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Similarly it did not back up claims that the Defender Hard Top was “bridging the gap to a more sustainable vehicle” or that it was a “staging post on the way to going full electric”.

The advertisement was subject to 28 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI). Several people complained that the advertisement amounted to “greenwashing” by Land Rover and it was wrong to associate large sports utility vehicles (SUVs) with saving the planet.

One complainant objected to the sustainability claim as he/she had viewed information in the manufacturer’s brochure which stated that the Land Rover Defender diesel 110 MHEV had Co2 emissions of 230 to 250mg/km which he/she said was higher than several other high end diesel engine SUV’s.

Another person complained that Land Rover had provided no comparative analysis between its vehicle and another mode of transport in suggesting that it was a path to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Land Rover defended the mild hybrid technology within its cars saying it delivered a savings of 6g/km of Co2 and passed the most stringent global emission standards.

The technology involved made the Defender “more economical, more responsive and more refined than the engines they supersede”, the company claimed.

A complaint that the car was parked on a double yellow line was upheld by the ASAI.

The authority noted that Land Rover had not addressed claims that the manufacture of the vehicle should be taken into account when addressing the issue of sustainability.

Neither had it used comparisons with other vehicles to back up its claims that “hybrid tech cuts down on the amount of fuel I (Diarmaid Gavin) use”. Such a claim could exploit the lack of knowledge of customers, the ASAI held.

The ASAI did not uphold complaints that Land Rover had misled customers by no claims that differentiating between mild hybrid and a standard hybrid vehicle. Neither did it uphold claims that Land Rover was seeking to suggest that its vehicle was more economical than similar vehicles made by other car manufacturers.

The ASAI ordered that Land Rover not use the advertisement in the same form again.