A gross sales promotion for “eco-friendly” price range air journey has been banned in Singapore following a criticism to the city-state’s promoting watchdog that the marketing campaign was deceptive and constituted greenwashing.
Since final November, Vietnamese airline VietJet had been selling as much as a million “eco tickets” for as little as SG$86 (US$64) every in a “Inexperienced Friday” promotion to encourage Singapore travellers to fly to Vietnam within the new yr.
The social media and public relations marketing campaign has been eliminated after the Promoting Requirements Authority of Singapore (ASAS) concluded that it breached the nation’s promoting code by making the unsubstantiated declare that air journey is useful to the surroundings.
VietJet’s web site claims that air travellers can “fly inexperienced” through the use of the airline. Picture: VietJet
In a media launch despatched to journalists, the airline mentioned the promotion was an alternative for Singapore travellers to “contribute to a greener future” by selecting VietJet’s community.
The airline’s promoted inexperienced credentials had been the gasoline effectivity of its fleet and adoption of digital providers like digital tickets and on-line check-ins, which scale back paper and ink use.
VietJet makes use of primarily the Airbus A320 household of planes, which it describes as “fashionable, fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly”. These narrow-bodied plane have curved wing ideas, or “sharklets”, which the airways says can scale back drag and save on gasoline.
In its ruling, ASAS mentioned it had interrogated VietJet’s supporting paperwork for its claims that it had minimize gasoline consumption and emissions by as much as 20 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, and located that these claims breached the primary guideline of the Singapore Code of Promoting Apply – issues of truth.
VietJet’s social media marketing campaign for “inexperienced Friday” provided flights from Singapore to Vietnam fo US$64. Picture: VietJet on Fb
The claims had been particular to a selected mixture of plane kind and engine, which make up solely a part of the VietJet fleet, so “shoppers couldn’t be assured of realising the claimed reductions in gasoline consumption and emissions”, ASAS chairman Bryan Tan mentioned in a response to Eco-Enterprise’s queries this week.
ASAS additionally mentioned that phrases akin to “eco-friendly” are too obscure to speak VietJet’s sustainability credentials clearly to shoppers with out acceptable qualifiers.
The criticism made to ASAS, by Singaporean resident Tan Hold Chong, expressed concern that VietJet’s declare that it had a “fashionable, fuel-efficient fleet” in comparison with different airways was questionable and masked the local weather influence of price range air journey in Southeast Asia.
“The adoption of digital providers like e-tickets and on-line check-ins is now a extra ubiquitous observe amongst airways. Therefore the declare that VietJet’s providers are extra sustainable than different airways may additionally require larger scrutiny,” he mentioned.
ASAS’s ruling marks the second time it has suggested for the elimination of commercials deemed unacceptable or deceptive resulting from exaggerated sustainability claims. In 2023, an commercial for electronics model Prism+ was eliminated after ASAS concluded that the declare that energy-efficient airconditioners can “save (the) Earth” was deceptive.
Greenwashing aviation
Airways have taken a hammering for greenwashing [examples, including Vietjet’s claims, are included in Eco-Business’s annual roundup of brands called out for greenwashing in the Year in Review series] lately.
Excessive-profile instances embody Dutch service KLM being discovered to have breached European shopper regulation in making claims suggesting that flying could be sustainable. Litigation specialists mentioned that the ruling set a authorized precedent that might have ramifications throughout the aviation sector.
Australian service Qantas was additionally referred to as out for utilizing phrases like “performing sustainably” and “fly carbon-neutral” in its promoting. A Virgin Atlantic commercial was banned in the UK for claiming that sustainable aviation gasoline (SAF) had no environmental influence.
For now, there isn’t any particular greenwashing regulation governing promoting in Singapore. ASAS, an advisory council below a non-profit shopper organisation, is an unbiased regulator for the promoting business and handles complaints on deceptive commercials. Its tips don’t carry the complete power of the regulation.
In response to questions from Eco-Enterprise concerning the firm’s declare that it was offering “eco-friendly” air journey, VietJet argued that it incorporates “eco-friendly supplies each onboard (its plane) and all through operational and repair processes”.
The airline clarified that in its “Inexperienced Friday” marketing campaign, it was primarily referring to using SAF in its flights, which it mentioned can scale back carbon emissions by as much as 80 per cent in comparison with conventional fuels.
Thus far, the airline has accomplished two SAF-powered flights, one to Melbourne, and one other to Seoul, in October this yr. Utilizing SAF accounts for 65 per cent of VietJet’s progress in direction of attaining its 2050 internet zero goal, the airline has mentioned.
The corporate added that it “advocates for” using “environmentally-friendly supplies”, akin to bamboo utensils, on its enterprise class flights.
It didn’t state what number of tickets it had offered within the gross sales promotion, nor if it could take additional motion to deal with public or shopper concern following ASAS’s ruling.
VietJet’s advertising was flagged for greenwashing in 2020, when the airline was referred to as out for selling half-price flights to Vietnam with the slogan “get pleasure from flying inexperienced with Vietjet”.
Environmental claims akin to “carbon impartial”, “pure”, “eco” or “environmentally-friendly” are to be banned from use in promoting with out verification within the European Union by 2026 in a bid to crack down on greenwashing.
Aviation, which is among the many hardest sectors to decarbonise, accounts for 2.5 per cent of annual international carbon dioxide equal emissions, though that proportion is projected to develop in step with rising demand, notably in creating economies. Vietnam is the world’s fifth fastest-growing aviation market, and is predicted to succeed in 150 million air transport passengers by 2035, in line with the Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation.
