Advertising Standards Authority Deems Greenpeace Fracking Ad Misleading
Environmental pressure group Greenpeace has had its knuckles wrapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), after it published an advertisement, which claimed experts agreed that fracking would not reduce energy bills.
Following a complaint brought by Lord Lipsey, the ASA concluded the claim would be interpreted by consumers to mean there was a general consensus among those of informed opinion that fracking would not reduce the price of energy bills. The ASA concluded this was not the case, despite Greenpeace providing quotes from 22 people, groups and organisations to support its argument.
In its ruling, the ASA stated there was a significant division of opinion on the matter, noting that only a minority of the quotes provided by Greenpeace decisively stated that fracking would not reduce energy costs. Whilst noting the claims by Greenpeace were made within the context of a public debate on fracking, the ASA still concluded the advertisement was misleading.
The ASA ordered that the advertisement should not be repeated in it current form. Greenpeace was also asked to ensure that in future, they did not use claims that misleadingly implied their views were universally accepted, if a significant division of informed opinion exists.
