Mazda's 'sustainable' hybrid ad banned — the word needs full life-cycle evidence

A paid Meta ad seen on 31 May 2024 read: 'The Mazda2 Hybrid combines the power of a petrol engine and the efficiency of a battery-powered electric motor. Exciting, efficient and sustainable'. The ASA challenged whether the word 'sustainable' gave a misleading impression of the car's environmental impact.

Mazda accepted the ad could unintentionally give a misleading impression, withdrew it when made aware and reviewed its marketing to ensure the claim was not used elsewhere. It said 'sustainable' was intended to communicate that the hybrid was more efficient than the non-hybrid Mazda2, based on the combined electric motor and petrol engine offering competitive fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

On 25 September 2024 the ASA upheld the complaint. 'Sustainable' was an absolute claim that consumers would understand as referring to the product's full life cycle. Evidence covering the whole life cycle — including the petrol engine's use, manufacture and grid-charging emissions — was not produced, so the claim was not adequately substantiated and misleadingly minimised the car's environmental impact. The ad breached CAP rules 3.1, 3.7, 11.1, 11.3 and 11.4 and must not appear again.