Lloyds advert banned for making false environmental claims
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Watchdog ruled social media post failed to provide balanced information over bank’s ongoing financing of polluting industries. A Lloyds Banking Group advert has been banned for making false environmental claims, making it the second major lender to break the UK advertising watchdog’s rules against greenwashing.
![[A Lloyds social media advert]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/10b1d899be19659ef8de441f95cef773f2e286d3/11_477_768_643/master/768.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) follows an investigation into a billboard poster and three paid-for posts on the networking website LinkedIn, all of which hailed the lender’s climate credentials. Bristol-based campaign group Adfree Cities reported the ads to the ASA earlier this year, claiming they were misleading and omitted “significant information” about the banking group’s CO2 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The ASA upheld a portion of the complaint, banning one of the LinkedIn adverts for failing to provide balanced information about the fact that Lloyds had continued to finance polluting industries. The offending post, made by marketing agency adam&eveDDB, read: “We’re committed to supporting the energy transition, by continuing to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and putting the weight of our finance into clean and renewable energy.”.
An embedded video showed an animated electric car driving through a suburban area before descending into the countryside, passing hay bales and a forest. A final scene showed the Earth with the text “Helping Britain Prosper”, with the word “Prosper” in green.
