Why was Persil advert taken off TV as controversial ad banned for misleading claims

Back in March, Persil, owned by Unilever, launched a new advert to showcase its products and their supposed benefit for the planet.

Persil washing up liquid’s advert showed a beach that was covered in trash and plastics.

A bottle of the Persil product was then shown followed by text on the screen reading: “Made with 50% recycled plastic, removes stains at 30C, 60 minutes quick wash.”

A voiceover then states: “Tough on stains. Kinder to our planet. Dirt is good."

The advert was removed from screen by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), blocking the German brand from being shown.

The ban comes as part of a wider clampdown on ‘greenwashing’ and came into effect after a viewer took issue with the claims made in the advertisement.

Greenwashing is the process of delivering false information or a misleading impression that a company’s product is environmentally friendly or sustainable.

Why was the Persil advert banned?

A complaint was made to the ASA by a viewer (Unilever)

A viewer sent in a complaint to the ASA, who took issue with the claims made in the advert’s text and narration.

They challenged the point that Persil was environmentally friendly.

The viewer also sought evidence from Unilever, the brand’s manufacturer, that would back up these claims.

The ASA then made the decision to ban the advert after receiving this complaint.

The organisation said in a statement: “Although we acknowledged Persil were undertaking actions to reduce the environmental impact of their products, we had not seen evidence or analysis to demonstrate the overall environmental impact of the featured detergent over their full-life cycles, compared with Persil’s own previous products or other products, in support of the claim kinder to our planet.”

What was the response to the advert's ban?

Unilever has disputed the ban (Getty Images)

After the ban, a spokesperson for Unilever voiced the company’s disappointment over the ASA's decision.

Unilever UK said that the ad sought to promote the changes the company had made in their products to help with sustainability and environmental awareness.

In response, Unilever said: “We are committed to making on-going improvements to all our products to make them more sustainable and will continue to look at how we can share this with our shoppers.”