Compostable Claims Filtered Out: ASA Grounds Dualit and Lavazza Ads

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has recently banned ads from Lavazza and Dualit for making misleading claims about the eco-friendliness of their coffee pods and bags. The ASA decided that both companies’ marketing implied that their products were compostable at home, when they were only certified for industrial composting.

Lavazza’s ad included the wording: “Lavazza A Modo Mio Eco Caps: the coffee shop taste in compostable capsules for your home. Good as usual, feels even better![…]". Similarly, Dualit’s ad stated “Dualit Coffee Bags – Compostable Coffee Bags”. 

The ASA stated that consumers would understand these claims to mean that the material would be compostable when disposed of at home, when this was not the case for either product. In addition, neither ad included information about how consumers could dispose of the bags or capsules correctly to allow composting. 

 As this was material information which qualified the claims that the bags or capsules were compostable, the ASA found that both ads were misleading. Claims by both Lavazza and Dualit that there was insufficient space in the ads, which were search ads, were also dismissed by the ASA as both ads did not use the maximum character limit. 

The ASA’s ruling follows a wider movement on ads making compostable claims, and reinforces the CAP Code’s requirement that any qualifications to compostable claims must be included in ads with sufficient prominence to ensure ads do not mislead consumers into making purchasing decisions they wouldn’t otherwise have made if they’d had that  information. 

The message is clear: ads claiming that products are compostable in a consumer setting must either be able to evidence that they are compostable at home or must make the disposal process clear. 

Green claims evidently remains a priority area for the ASA and as such brands should continue to be careful when making claims which might influence consumers’ purchasing choices. By the ASA’s own guidance marketers should ensure that:

• Claims should be genuine, and they hold evidence to demonstrate any claim;
• Claims should not exaggerate the product’s characteristics;
• Claims should not omit relevant material information; and  
• Claims apply to the full lifecycle of products. 

The area is also currently under ongoing review by the ASA as part of its Climate Change and the Environment Project, so may be subject to further change. Brands should ensure they are closely monitoring updates to the rules and guidance.

This article was written with Katy Cook and Kat Goussous.