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Regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered Unilever to withdraw a television advertisement for its Persil brand over misleading environmental claims for products sold in 50% recycled plastic bottles.

The ASA did not dispute the proportion of recycled plastic used in the detergent bottles, but said the advertisement “must not appear again in its current form” and told Unilever to ensure the basis of environmental claims was clear in future adverts.

It acted over an advert first seen on 31 March 2022, which began with an image of a beach strewn with litter and plastic, and then a boy viewing that image on a television. 

A voiceover stated: “At Persil, we know that change doesn’t just happen in the comments section”, and then showed a woman writing '#plantmoretrees', scrolling through social media and clicking 'Sad'. It then featured children collecting plastic litter from rivers and ocean waves on a beach.

The voiceover went on to say: “Tough on stains, kinder to our planet. Dirt is good”, while it showed children in sunlit outdoor scenes running through white sheets hanging to dry and then a field with trees, also with on-screen text stating, ‘tough on stains, kinder to our planet’. 

Persil said the advert was intended to inform consumers that its product could get rid of dirt in clothes even while washing at lower temperatures.

It also said its plastic bottles now contained at least 50% post-consumer recycled plastic, so reducing their use of virgin plastic and carbon derived from fossil fuels in packaging. 

Persil said the advert demonstrated how its liquid detergents were ‘kinder to our planet’ by saving energy through cleaning at lower temperatures and in quick washes and using 50% recycled plastic.

The ASA said the statement “kinder to our planet” was an environmental claim that was comparative and “likely to be ambiguous to viewers”. 

It said the advert did not state or explain the basis of the claim, and it was unclear whether being effective in cold and quick washing cycles, and using recycled plastic, were new or recent developments, and whether they were specific to the advertised detergents or Persil’s wider range of products.

Unilever has been contacted for comment.

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