A Lloyds Banking Group LinkedIn post has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for false environmental representation.
The ruling by the UK regulator is about a poster and three paid-for LinkedIn posts for Lloyds published in May 2024.
Campaign group Adree Cities challenged whether the material was misleading in its claims because it excluded significant information about Lloyds’ contribution to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The first three posts in question were not banned, and only a portion of Adree Cities’ claim was upheld by the ASA, after inspecting a LinkedIn post intended to detail Lloyd’s steps to reduce its carbon footprint.
The video advertisement in question showed an electric car driving through a suburban setting before entering a rural area. A final scene showed Earth with the text “Helping Britain Prosper”, the word “Prosper” shown in green.
ASA concluded that the imagery, the final video scene, and the claim represented Lloyd’s as putting the “weight of [its] finance” into renewable energy, was likely to affect consumers’ understanding of the ad’s overall message.
ASA ruled that the social media post breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.3 (Misleading advertising), and 11.1 (Environmental claims). The post has been removed.
In response to the ruling, a Lloyd’s Banking Group spokesperson said it remained “committed to supporting transparent public discussion of this important issue”.
“The ASA Council outcome relates to a single LinkedIn post for a Sustainability Awareness Day, which will not be repeated.
“Reducing the environmental impact of our business remains a fundamental part of our strategy and we will continue to work alongside customers, the government, and the market to reach net zero by 2050 or sooner.”
The ASA advised Lloyds Banking Group to ensure future ads featuring environmental claims did not mislead by omitting significant information that puts the claims into context and helps with consumers’ understanding of the message.