A BRITISH car dealership was told yesterday that it must not imply that cars cause no environmental damage. A TV advert for a Newcastle-based dealership, Mill Garages, said Volvo DRIVe models were “kind to the environment” because of low consumption and emissions.
Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the dealership must not use the “misleading” claim again.
Its adjudication said: “Viewers were likely to interpret the claim ‘these cars are kind on the environment’ in absolute terms: the DRIVe range caused no harm to the environment. Because that was not true, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”
The ASA said it would have been acceptable for Mill Garages to claim the cars were “kinder on the environment”.
In the advert, a man shown with cars from the range stated: “These cars are kind on the environment and extremely kind on your pocket.” The ASA received one complaint from a viewer who said the claim was misleading.