AUSTRALIA | The ACCC has launched Federal Court action against gas distributor Australian Gas Networks Limited, alleging it made false and misleading representations in its ‘Love Gas’ TV and digital advertising campaign.
The ACCC alleges Australian Gas Networks misled millions of consumers when it represented, in ads that ran during 2022 and 2023, that the gas it distributes to households on its network will be renewable within a generation.
Australian Gas Networks did not have reasonable grounds for making the unqualified claim about the future of gas, which featured in advertisements aired on free-to-air television, streaming services, and YouTube, the ACCC alleges.
“We allege that Australian Gas Networks engaged in greenwashing in its ‘Love Gas’ ad campaign. We allege that the ads overstated the likelihood of Australian Gas Networks overcoming significant technical and economic barriers to distribute renewable gas to households within a generation," said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
“It is not currently possible to distribute renewable gas at scale and at an economically viable price, and throughout 2022 and 2023, it was highly uncertain whether, and if so when, this would be possible. We allege that even though Australian Gas Networks knew the future of renewable gas was uncertain, it made an unqualified representation to consumers that it would distribute renewable gas to households within a generation.”
The ACCC said these ads were intended to encourage consumers to connect to, or remain connected to, Australian Gas Networks’ distribution network and to purchase gas appliances for their homes, based on the misleading impression that they would receive ‘renewable gas’ within a generation.
It considered that consumers were deprived of the opportunity to make fully informed choices, in accordance with their values, about the most appropriate energy sources for use in their homes, the household appliances they should invest in, and the steps they could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The claims by Australian Gas Networks were contained in four advertisements, all of which featured a young girl and her father using gas appliances in the home for cooking, bathing, or heating. The advertisements then fast-forward in time to show the girl, now portrayed as a young adult, engaging in the same household activities.
The ads featured a voiceover stating the following, or similar:
- Some things never change, but the flame we use will.
- It’s becoming renewable.
- Controllable, reliable gas.
- For this generation and the next.
The final frame of each ad featured the company’s logo next to a green flame, and the words, “Love gas. Love a renewable gas future,” or just “Love Gas”.
The ads did not contain any qualifications, fine print or disclaimers.
Cass-Gottlieb added that businesses making false or misleading environmental claims make it harder for consumers to support those that are genuinely working to reduce their environmental impact. Businesses that make environmental claims about the future must have reasonable grounds for those claims, or they will be taken to be misleading under the Australian Consumer Law.
Businesses must take care when promoting emissions-reduction measures to ensure their claims can be backed up with evidence and that they are realistic about emerging energy technologies and when changes are likely to be achieved. Misleading claims not only break the trust of consumers, but they also breach the Australian Consumer Law.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, costs and other orders.
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