A complaint that a Coles television commercial claiming carbon neutral beef was misleading has been dismissed.
Australia's advertising complaints handling body Ad Standards found Coles proved that the product had government certification.
The fifteen second clip shows Coles Ambassador chef Curtis Stone preparing carbon neutral beef, accompanied by price and offer details.
The ad closes with a voiceover: “That’s value the Australian way, at Coles”.
Coles carbon neutral beef via Ad Standards.
The complaint submitted to Ad Standards:
"I find it very hard to belief that this statement is true and / or is very misleading. How can beef be carbon neutral. I can accept carbon reduced.
"In my view this is false and misleading advertising. They also state this on their website (with clarifications). And it is not carbon neutral."
However, Coles brought its receipts.
The product was certified carbon neutral from farm to store in April 2022 through Climate Active, an Australian government initiative developed and administered by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy.
In line with the certification, Coles’ emissions reduction strategy includes working with farmer partners to reduce emissions through best practice farming and investment in emission reduction initiatives including: 1. improving herd productivity, 2. feed supplements that reduce enteric methane; and 3. carbon sequestration. Coles offsets remaining emissions associated with the product with carbon credits.
As a result, Coles believes its "promotion of the product as carbon neutral is truthful and accurate, which can be verified and substantiated, and is unlikely to mislead consumers regarding the nature or the environmental benefits of the product".
Despite people doubting the legitimacy of carbon neutrality in general, the Ad Standards Community Panel agreed with Coles and found the ad to not breach the AANA Environmental Claims Code.
The panel also found the ad to not breach the AANA Food and Beverages Code as the ad was not designed to be misleading or deceptive.
The complaint was dismissed.
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