A shopper authority in Denmark has reported BMW, the German automobile producer, to the police, in accordance with Reuters, for a advertising and marketing marketing campaign by which BMW referred to as itself “the world’s most sustainable automobile producer,” which the buyer authority says is deceptive, in all probability as a result of BMW might not be the world’s most sustainable automobile producer.
The Danish Shopper Ombudsman’s press launch on the matter, as translated by Google, is pleasant:
BMW Denmark has been reported to the police after utilizing statements in a advertising and marketing marketing campaign in 2021 and 2022, which, within the opinion of the Shopper Ombudsman, have been appropriate to present shoppers the impression that BMW’s vehicles have been considerably much less dangerous to the setting than different vehicles.
Within the marketing campaign, BMW used, amongst different issues, statements comparable to “The world’s most sustainable automobile producer”, “There may be sustainability in each automobile that BMW produces”, and “Your entire manufacturing chain for the BMW iX is inexperienced” on BMW’s web site, in an commercial on Fb, on commercials within the streetscape in Copenhagen and/or in commercials on Berlingske’s web site.
The Shopper Ombudsman has assessed that the statements have been deceptive and due to this fact in breach of the Advertising Act, because the measures taken by BMW to provide vehicles in a much less environmentally dangerous approach are common for comparable automobile producers’ environmental and sustainability measures. Within the opinion of the Shopper Ombudsman, the statements additionally made BMW’s vehicles seem as if they’re much less dangerous to the setting than they really are.
Take that, BMW, which stated in a press release that it’s cooperating, in accordance with Reuters:
Responding to the claims in a separate assertion, BMW stated, “it’s working constructively with the ombudsman and the police and is offering needed info,” including that it couldn’t make additional feedback in an ongoing case.
It isn’t clear what the upshot is right here, precisely, although in accordance with the ombudsman’s web site, “Within the case of great violations of the buyer safety laws which might be punishable, the Shopper Ombudsman processes circumstances with a view to legal sanctions,” which sounds dramatic, although so does reporting an organization to the police. The ombudsman’s web site additionally says that they’ve round 30 staff, together with a lawyer named Christina Toftegaard Nielsen who leads the authority and is quoted within the BMW press launch, who now will get to inform those who BMW has been reported to the police.
