JBS pulled its 'net zero by 2040' meat ads after NARB upheld the challenge

JBS, the world's largest meat producer, ran ads such as 'Bacon, chicken wings and steak with net zero emissions. It's possible' and 'Leading change across the food industry and achieving our goal of net zero by 2040 will be a challenge. Anything less is not an option.' The nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy challenged the claims at the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs — against an industry where cattle account for 65% of emissions from animal farming, per the UN's FAO.

In February 2023 the NAD found the claims too aspirational: they communicated that JBS's plan had been evaluated and there was a reasonable expectation of reaching net zero by 2040, when the company was in the 'exploratory stage' of figuring out how. The NAD asked JBS to withdraw the claims. JBS appealed to the National Advertising Review Board, arguing the claims were substantiated by the 'foundational work' done to date; in June the NARB upheld the recommendation, and JBS agreed to comply while disagreeing with how both bodies interpreted consumer perception.

The scrutiny extended past advertising: in 2021 JBS sold $3.2 billion of 'green bonds' under which it would pay bondholders a premium if it missed its greenhouse-gas emission targets, and in January 2023 activist group Mighty Earth filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission saying the company was already failing to meet them.

NAD ordered withdrawal in February; JBS appealed to NARB, lost in June, and agreed to pull the claims

Ads presented a 2040 goal as a consumer promise although the company was still exploring how to reach it.

Beef's outsized carbon footprint made 'net zero steak' a claim activists and ad reviewers were primed to test.

JBS chose to appeal a withdrawal recommendation rather than narrow the claims, extending the loss to the appellate board.

Its green bonds tied $3.2B of financing to the same targets activists said were already being missed.

A target is not a claim — 'it's possible' promises consumers an outcome a company is still exploring how to reach.

JBS agreed to comply with the NARB recommendation and stop the 'aspirational' claims; the NAD noted it could still make narrower statements about researching potential emission-reduction methods. Mighty Earth's SEC complaint had produced no disclosed outcome as of the June 2023 reporting.