Two car adverts from BMW and MG have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for making misleading claims about being “zero emissions”.
In both cases, the ASA held that the term zero emissions should only be made in relation to the vehicle while it is being driven, as there are emissions in the charging process.
The BMW said “zero emissions cars” then continued with the phrase “find the perfect BMW electric car” and “explore a range of BMW electric cars”.
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox everyday
In its defence BMW said it had used terms like zero emissions vehicle in order to target consumers who used searches to find out about battery electric vehicles.
The MG advert featured the claim “Find a dealer – Book a test drive. Save £1,000 on our Next MG HS Plug-in Hybrid, MG ZS or MG5 EV Trophy Long Range Renewed with a modern design, increased range, and even more technology. Zero Emissions.”
Following the complaints MG said it had removed the adverts.
