Bo-Rent claimed 'renting is environmentally conscious' — on ~3,000 diesel and petrol cars

Car-rental company Bo-Rent advertised on roughly 3,000 of its vehicles the claim 'Huren is milieubewust' ('renting is environmentally conscious'), printed around the image of a flower on the side of each car. Every car in the fleet ran on a combustion engine — diesel or petrol.

A complainant argued the claim was a false environmental assertion: a diesel or petrol rental car is not obviously environmentally conscious, and renting is not inherently greener than owning. The claim carried no further explanation of what it was comparing or on what basis.

The Reclame Code Commissie (RCC) held the statement to be a sustainability claim under the Code voor Duurzaamheidsreclame (CDR) that was insufficiently clear, breaching article 3.1 CDR, and recommended Bo-Rent stop advertising in that manner.

Bo-Rent appealed. The College van Beroep confirmed the first-instance decision but on changed grounds: it held the claim to breach article 7 CDR (comparative sustainability claims) instead, because 'huren is milieubewust' implies a comparison between renting and owning a car without stating between which aspects the comparison is made or providing the supporting evidence.