This is a special edition of my Culture Punks newsletter, one which at least one person has been interested in reading, so grab a cup of tea and hopefully enjoy.
Newsletter No 5 is as much about persistence as it is about percentages*. I am proud of my little stand against the use of * to bend the truth, though BBC News thought the ASA complaint about two girls hanging upside down eating cheese triangles was more newsworthy, thanks for the mention though.
BACK STORY:
In August last year I stopped by a bus shelter, and since I hadn’t been invited to a No 10 party, I guess I had time to spare. (That said, I once went to a very nice party at No 11, but I can understand why SPADs were told to bring their own wine.)
So I bought a Lipton Iced Tea from the local Tesco on a hot summers day and on the way home I read the below bus shelter advert, which, coincidentally, was for bottled Lipton Ice tea. “DELICIOUSLY REFRESHING, 100% RECYCLED BOTTLE*”, wait… how can something be 100%* if it has an *? Surely it can’t be 100% then. Perhaps years working in fintech and business intelligence has made me overly sensitive to numbers being correct and true. I’ve also clearly spent too much time with accountants…
I don’t normally moan (too much), or rant on Twitter. Though, I once had an ‘heated discussion’ about copyright law with Chris Noonan (who wrote and directed Babe) in front of Renée Zellweger at the Dorchester Hotel, but perhaps that’s a story for another time. So with COP26 (then) on the horizon and just a desire for brands to do better, I felt compelled to act.
Perhaps the person I used to work with who referred to me as a boulder (fat), old and boring, but dressed it up as ‘banter’ was right on two counts after all? Had I become a boring old person who just likes to complain or was I part of a movement that expects more from the brands that we buy from?
I’d also noticed the green recycle symbol on the bottle itself. 100% recycled plastic, also with a *, and “*just the bottle” in small print underneath – barely readable (but that might be my age). Ironically this was printed on part of the bottle that wasn’t and can’t be recycled – the label. So I did what I’ve never done before: I combined the collective powers of 15+ years of marketing, MCIM and lecturing into a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Surely, one person at a bus stop couldn’t win against the 2nd biggest drinks manufacturer in the world?
In truth, if I had I listened to my doubts, I wouldn’t have made this complaint, but since you’re still here, here’s how it played out… (or read the ruling here)
ISSUE
“The complainant (me) challenged whether the claim “100% RECYCLED*” misleadingly implied that all of the Lipton bottle was made from 100% recycled plastic.”
RESPONSE
“Pepsi Lipton International said the headline claim “100% RECYCLED*” had a clear asterisk that indicated to consumers there was a qualification that should be read in conjunction with it. They accepted that the size of the text in the qualification was small and could have been overlooked. However, in their opinion, the wording of the qualification “Bottle made from recycled plastic, excludes cap and label” was sufficient to clarify that the claim related to the bottle only and excluded the cap and label.
They said the general understanding of consumers was that bottle caps and labels were not generally made of recycled materials. However, because some consumers might have assumed the headline claim related to the entire product shown in the ad, they considered it was appropriate to clarify the claim with the qualification.”
This, for me was part of the problem. I buy a bottle of drink, not a bottle of drink, cap and label. Yet Pepsi Lipton thinks that it is “general understanding” that the public are well aware of the separation between bottle, cap and label. Perhaps I’m being pernickety, but a bottle of drink needs a lid to keep the liquid in and a label to tell the consumer what the contents is and health information etc. Therefore it is part of the bottle because without a cap and label, its simply not a bottle – not in any sellable sense.
I’d also like to know where they got their “general understanding” idea from. Did they conduct a survey? Either way, it was a woolie response.
Unpicking the response a bit further, “However, because some consumers might have assumed the headline claim related to the entire product shown in the ad,” [Oh, do you think?] “they considered it was appropriate to clarify the claim with the qualification.” So kind and considerate. WTAF?
ASSESSMENT
Upheld
The ASA agreed that consumers would understand the claim “100% RECYCLED*” alongside images of the bottle with the label and cap to mean that ALL components of the Lipton Ice Tea bottle (i.e. the bottle, cap and label) were made entirely from recycled materials.
The ASA concluded: “We acknowledged the advertisement stated “Bottle made from recycled plastic, excludes cap and label”. However, we considered that wording appeared in very small text in the left-hand bottom corner of the ad, and therefore it could be overlooked. Notwithstanding that, we considered that even if some consumers had seen the qualification, because the cap and label were not made from recycled materials, and the overall impression they created was that all parts of the bottle were made entirely from recycled materials, the qualification was insufficient to counter that impression. Because the overall impression of the ad was that all components of the bottle were made entirely from recycled materials when that was not the case, we concluded that the claim “100% RECYCLED*” was misleading.”
In short, I’m not a crazy old boring person.
It gets better. The ASA also found that the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.9 (Qualification) and 11.3 (Environmental claims).
Maybe I’m a closet activist?
All said, the action the ASA demanded of Pepsi Lipton was what filled me with dread. This would all be for nothing if the ASA simply said “must not appear in this form again”
ACTION
“The ad must not appear again in the form complained about.” What I expected but I doubt it would have anyway.
And then the ASA showed its teeth: “We told Pepsi Lipton International to ensure their advertising did not state or imply that their product packaging was made from 100% recycled material where it contained components that did not meet that criteria.” BOOM!
Annnnd… “We also told them to ensure that qualifications did not counter the overall impression made by the ad.” Hurrah! More happy dancing.
I personally would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when this was announced at Pepsi Lipton. It has set a precedent and a new standard for the FMCG industry to follow. I look forward to seeing what steps Pepsi Lipton take, not just with Lipton Ice Tea, but across the Pepsi brands.
But Pepsi Lipton didn’t let the ASA have the last word, and responded in the press like a stroppy teenager that had lost a conker fight with a toddler.
Pepsi Lipton International “did not intend to mislead anyone with this ad,” a spokeswoman told The Grocer. “We were simply celebrating that the plastic bottle is now made from 100% recycled PET. For complete transparency, we added a note on the ad itself to clarify that it did not include the label and cap. We believed that to be clear and are sorry to hear that anyone may have felt misled.”
Let me rewrite this for you Pepsi Lipton, it’s my gift to you:
“We did not intend to mislead anyone with this ad. We now realise that by celebrating that the main part of the plastic bottle is now made from 100% recycled PET we were being a bit lazy. It is clear to us that there is work to be done to make our entire bottle (including the cap and sleeve/label) from recycled PET (often referred to as rPET on our products) and also explain to our customers why these elements of the bottle can’t yet be recycled.
Perhaps, as a result: Lipton Ice Tea’s brand promise should change from “Helping you to make new friends” (Yes, really). To become a brand that is clear, honest and transparent (Just like the bottles, lol).
So here’s another gift:
“We aim to take our customers on a journey from how our drinks are made, and how we are becoming more sustainable on the road to making our entire bottle (including our cap and label/sleeve) “DELICIOUSLY REFRESHING, 100% RECYCLED” with not an * in sight, because they are rubbish.” (That is, asterisks are rubbish. Obviously a 100% recyclable product wouldn’t be rubbish, bin any sense of the word.)
Sorry, Pepsi Lipton for not being a 70+ year-old boring old man in the countryside with too much time on my hands, but an actual customer who cares about honesty, respect for customers and trustable brands that have a clear purpose, not just a purpose for the sake of it. I also care about the world we live in and the world that we are going to leave to our children. I’m not sorry that you need to rethink and redo your advertising and bottle labels, I can’t wait to see them. Hopefully, you’ve learnt something from this that brings about positive change, and it doesn’t, I guess I’ll be watching.
Also, a huge thanks to the people at the ASA for picking up and running with this. They saw beyond the fact that only one person complained and took it seriously. Sure, it took a long time, but they kept me up to date and my opinion felt valued. I hope it becomes a watershed moment of sorts for green washing.
Before I leave you to enjoy your weekend, I’d like to play you out with the legendary Meat Loaf who sadly died aged 74. Thank you for all the drunken karaoke moments that you inspired! RIP!
See you next week!
Adam
