Virgin Atlantic has had one of its radio adverts banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for claiming that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is 100% sustainable.
The ASA received five complaints about the radio advert, which said Virgin Atlantic’s Flight 100 from London Heathrow to JFK would become “the world’s first commercial airline to fly transatlantic on 100% sustainable aviation fuel”.
Listen to the banned Virgin Atlantic ad in full here.
Virgin Atlantic refuted that the advert was misleading, as the wording ‘100% sustainable aviation fuel’ mirrored that of a UK Department for Transport (DfT) competition which pledged to support the industry in carrying out the ‘first net zero transatlantic flight’.
The airline also claimed that most consumers would understand ‘ 100% sustainable aviation fuel’ to refer to fuel made completely from sustainable sources, which reduces but does not completely eliminate greenhouse gases.
It did not think listeners would believe the fuel itself was 100% sustainable or had no adverse environmental impact.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Following the complaint, Virgin surveyed consumers to see what they understood from the ad. It found that the majority (68%) understood that sustainable aviation fuel was better for the environment than traditional jet fuel, but that it was not without any adverse impact
However, the ASA ruled that the advert had breached codes on misleading advertising and environmental claims, and ordered Virgin Atlantic to ensure that future adverts regarding SAF include substantiated claims.
“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,” said ASA director of complaints and investigations Miles Lockwood.
“While sustainable aviation fuel does emit less carbon emissions than regular aviation fuel, it nevertheless still generates significant carbon and non-carbon emissions in-flight and its production at scale can have wider environmental costs and trade offs.
“Because of that, it’s 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.”
The ASA has previously banned adverts from Air France, Etihad and Lufthansa over claims about sustainable fuel.