The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Virgin Atlantic radio advertisement that first aired in November, due to claims concerning the environmental benefits of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The advertisement, promoting the airline’s Flight 100 from London Heathrow to John F. Kennedy International Airport, claimed it would be “the world’s first commercial airline to fly transatlantic on 100% sustainable aviation fuel.”
This flight was widely publicised by both the UK Government and the airline, as Ministers sought to promote “guilt-free flying” post-lockdown.
The advertisement received five complaints, with critics arguing that the claim of “100% sustainable aviation fuel” misrepresented the fuel’s environmental impact. Complainants contended that the phrase gave a misleading impression that the fuel had no negative environmental effects.
In its defence, Virgin Atlantic contextualised Flight 100 as part of a competition organised by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) to facilitate the first net zero transatlantic flight using 100% SAF within a year.
The airline underscored that the flight was designed to demonstrate the technical viability of SAF as a full replacement for fossil-fuel based jet fuels. Virgin Atlantic maintained that the advertisement’s wording aligned with the DfT’s competition parameters and argued that consumers would understand “100% sustainable aviation fuel” to refer to the type of fuel rather than to suggest an absence of environmental impact.
Nevertheless, the ASA upheld the complaints, instructing Virgin Atlantic to ensure future advertisements include clarifications regarding the environmental impact of SAF, citing breaches of the BCAP Code rules on misleading advertising and environmental claims.
Miles Lockwood, the ASA’s Director of Complaints and Investigations, remarked: “Our rulings have made it clear that businesses need to be wary of using statements like ‘100% sustainable’ or ‘sustainable’ when advertising their products and services.
“We all have a part to play in tackling climate change, and we want businesses to talk about their environmental credentials. That’s why we’re continuing to provide training and free advice to advertisers so they can be confident that their ads are accurate and precise.”
Virgin Atlantic has yet to comment on the ASA’s decision.
In response to the complaint, Virgin Atlantic conducted a survey that revealed the majority of listeners understood the claim to refer to the proportion of SAF used and recognised that SAF, while superior to traditional jet fuel, is not without environmental impact.
The company noted that “sustainable aviation fuel” is a term widely employed across the aviation industry and by regulatory bodies, emphasising that it refers to fuels not derived from fossil sources and certified by entities such as the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).
The ASA’s findings indicated that while many listeners recognised that Flight 100 uniquely used SAF, a significant proportion of survey respondents interpreted “100% sustainable aviation fuel” to imply that the fuel was entirely sustainable with no negative environmental consequences.
According to the survey, while 68% of respondents believed SAF to be better than traditional jet fuel, 15% perceived it to have an equivalent impact, 6% believed it to be worse, and 11% thought it had zero impact. Furthermore, approximately 30% believed that the statement “SAF has zero impact on the environment” was true.
Lockwood added: “It is important that claims for sustainable aviation fuel spell out what the reality is, so consumers aren’t misled into thinking that the flight they are taking is greener than it really is.”
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Source: https://tinyurl.com/2ppbne3a
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