Coca-Cola subsidiary, Innocent Drinks, has had its ‘Little Drinks, Big Dreams’ advert banned after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled it breeched the advertising code.
The ruling comes after a campaign by Plastics Rebellion, an affiliation group of Extinction Rebellion, against the advert made by Mother Advertising Ltd in May 2021.
Plastics Rebellion labelled the advert ‘greenwashing’ and took issue with the fact the advertising campaign to sell drinks in plastic bottles that claimed to ‘fix up the planet’, it said in a statement.
They’re guilty of brushing the plastic crisis under the carpet and trivialising it
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the advert breached the advertising code because the campaign implied that buying Innocent products would have a positive environmental impact which it said was misleading.
Plastics Rebellion said: “You can’t be a major contributor to a global health and environmental emergency and claim to fix up the planet.
“Innocent are being disingenuous about the dangers of plastic’s threat to human health and environment, as well as trivialising the horrific scale of the problem by repeating the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle”.
“They’re guilty of brushing the plastic crisis under the carpet and trivialising it.”
Plastic Rebellion said that the lifecycle of plastic is ‘more carbon intense than aviation’.
Our advert was always intended to highlight important global environmental issues…
Innocent Drinks said sustainability is a ‘complex topic’ and there isn’t one silver bullet.
It said its advert was intended to be an engaging way to talk to consumers about the importance of climate action. It is currently working to achieve a target of reducing its emissions by 50% by 2030 on its way to net zero by 2040.
It says the plastic used in its drinks bottles is ‘recyclable, lightweight, robust and also low carbon compared to some alternative packaging solutions such as glass’.
It said it reduces that carbon footprint further in its bottles by using recycled content and a ‘small amount of recyclable plant plastic’.
A spokesperson from Innocent Drinks told Circular Online: “We’re disappointed to see the ruling from the ASA. Our advert was always intended to highlight important global environmental issues and the need for collective action to make a change…
“As with any new guidelines, we’d like to work with the ASA and other brands to understand how to align to them to continue the conversation on these important topics.”
