Advertising Standards Bureau - Review of Operations 2013 | Page 94

Medium means any medium whatsoever
including without limitation cinema, internet,
outdoor media, print, radio, telecommunications,
television or other direct-to-consumer media
including new and emerging technologies.

Code of Practice
1

Truthful and factual presentation

Environmental Claims in Advertising or
Marketing Communications:
i. hall not be misleading or deceptive or be
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likely to mislead or deceive.
ii. ust not be vague, ambiguous or unbalanced.
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iii. ust display any disclaimers or important
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limitations and qualifications prominently, in
clear, plain and specific language.
iv. ust be supported by evidence that is
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current and reflects legislative, scientific and
technological developments.
v. hat make any claim relating to future
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matters or commitments must be based on
reasonable grounds.
vi. ust not lead the consumer to conclude
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a business has voluntarily adopted an
environmental practice if that practice has
been legally mandated.
vii. ust not imply a product or service is
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endorsed or certified by another organisation
when it is not.
viii. ust represent the attributes or extent of
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the environmental benefits or limitations
as they relate to a particular aspect of a
product or service in a manner that can be
clearly understood by the consumer. Relevant
information should be presented together.

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ix. ust reflect the level of scientific or
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authoritative acceptance of matters relating
to any claim; claims should not imply wide
acceptance if this is not the case. Where
evidence is inconclusive this should be
reflected in the Advertising or Marketing
Communication.
x. hat use scientific terminology, technical
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language or statistics must do so in a way that
is appropriate, clearly communicated and able
to be readily understood by the audience to
whom it is directed. Publication of research
results must identify the researcher and source
reference unless there is an obligation of
confidence or compelling commercial reason
not to do so.

2

A genuine benefit to the environment

Environmental Claims must:
i. e relevant, specific and clearly explain the
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significance of the claim.
ii. ot overstate the claim expressly or
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by implication.

3 Substantiation
i. nvironmental Claims must be able to be
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substantiated and verifiable. Supporting
information must include sufficient detail to
allow evaluation of a claim.
ii. nvironmental Claims must meet any
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applicable standards that apply to the benefit
or advantage claimed.
iii. e use of unqualified general claims of
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environmental benefit should be avoided
unless supported by a high level of
substantiation or associated with a legitimate
connection to an authoritative source.
iv. nvironmental Claims and comparisons that
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are qualified or limited may be acceptable if
advertisers can substantiate that the product/
service provides an overall improvement
in environmental terms either against a
competitor’s or their own previous products.
v. laims relating to sponsorships, approvals,
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endorsement or certification schemes must be
current.

iii. n comparative advertisements, be relevant
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and balanced either about the product/service
advertised or class of products or services,
with which it is compared.

vi. e use of any symbol or logo must be
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explained unless the symbol is required
by law, or is underpinned by regulations
or standards, or is part of an authoritative
certification scheme.

iv. ot imply that a product or service is more
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socially acceptable on the whole. The use of
Environmental Claims must not reduce the
importance of non-environment attributes /
detriments