Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Elf Bar ad banned over misleading recycling claim

Elf Bar ad banned over misleading recycling claim
iStock image
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Advertisement for the vaping company Elf Bar have been banned over the slogan “recycling for a greener future” over concern they were misleading in reference of recycling of discarded vapes.

The advert, which was banned by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), gave the impression that recycling vapes was easy and could be done at home in contrast to the fact that vaping products cannot generally be home recycled, but rather have to be taken to special facilities such as council-run waste centres.


The ads appeared on buses and digital billboards in London in July and August. They carried images of the Elf Bar 600 V2 vape alongside the words “recycling for a greener future” and “green awareness”. Both were the subject of complaints to the regulator by Adfree Cities and others.

The ASA received ten complaints, including from Adfree Cities and Imperial Tobacco Ltd. Most complainants challenged that the ads were misleading because they did not make clear there were only limited recycling options for the products. Adfree Cities also challenged whether the ads misleadingly highlighted an environmental benefit that resulted from a legal obligation to which competing products were also subject.

The advert was found to be in breach of eight codes relating to misleading advertising, qualification, environmental claims and substantiation. It also misleadingly highlighted an environmental benefit – offering recycling options - that resulted from a legal obligation that competing products were also subject to.

The ASA instructed Elf Bar to ensure that the ads must not appear again in the forms complained of and that future campaigns did not mislead about the environmental impact or benefit of the products.

The ASA said in its ruling, “We acknowledged Elf Bar’s intention was for the ads to educate and encourage consumers to recycle, and that they would be undertaking initiatives that would increase consumers’ ability to do so.

“However, because consumers would understand from the ads that they would be able to recycle Elf Bar’s single-use vapes through a wide variety of routes including by easily accessible routes such as home recycling provisions, when that was not the case, we concluded the ads were misleading.”

ELFBAR said that research by Material Focus (a not-for-profit organisation aiming to ensure that electricals were reused and recycled), conducted in 2023, had shown that 70 per cent of people threw away their single-use vapes because they did not know they were recyclable. The general intention of the ads was therefore to raise awareness that their vapes could be recycled and to encourage consumers to engage with recycling.

Adfree Cities meanwhile has called for a total ban on advertising nicotine vapes.

“Just as cigarettes scar the bodies of smokers, so has the rise in popularity of disposable vapes left a toxic legacy of plastic and harmful battery metals on our environment,” James Ward, a campaigner at Adfree Cities, said.

“Advertising for nicotine-containing vapes is prohibited on TV, radio, in print and online. That it is permitted on outdoor advertising is a glaring loophole in the law and highlights how outdoor advertising sadly so often provides a willing platform for polluting companies."

More for you

​Booker launches new delivery app Scoot

Booker launches new delivery app Scoot

Booker

Booker's new delivery app for symbol retailers to deliver in 30 minutes

Booker has launched a brand-new ordering platform exclusively for its symbol group retailers to help them deliver local groceries to their customers’ doors, in as little as 30 minutes.

The new ordering platform, Scoot, connects shoppers with their local participating independent retailer enabling them to order food, drinks and household essentials from a curated list of products chosen by the retailer.

Keep ReadingShow less
NewstrAid’s Retailer Support Scheme gives 100+ grants in just seven months

NewstrAid’s Retailer Support Scheme gives 100+ grants in just seven months

Industry charity NewstrAid has announced a major milestone, awarding over 100 grants to retailers in need since the launch of its Retailer Support Scheme in May 2024.

Designed to provide financial, emotional, and practical support, the scheme has already paid out around £50,000 to retailers facing ill health, family crises, bereavement, and retail crime, helping them navigate unexpected hardships.

Keep ReadingShow less
Fed praises InPost Newstrade for changes
Fed praises InPost Newstrade for changes
Fed praises InPost Newstrade for changes

Fed praises InPost Newstrade for changes

InPost Newstrade, formerly Menzies Distribution, is making some changes to its carriage charge model following discussions with the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed).

In a letter to its UK customers which was being sent today (10), the news wholesaler has announced that it is to decrease the base charge to support retailers with lower sales.

Keep ReadingShow less
marks and spencer CEO warns Rising taxes on retail

Marks & Spencer slams government on rising taxes.

iStock image

M&S chief slams government for raiding retail 'like piggybank'

The retail industry is being “raided like a piggy bank”, chief executive of Marks & Spencer has stated, calling on the UK government to delay or ease planned tax and recycling charges.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Stuart Machin said that without pausing or staggering the changes to national insurance and business rates, which come into effect this April, UK retail would get smaller.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pernod Ricard considers sale of Mumm champagne

Bottle of Champagne G.M. Mumm Brut Cordon Rouge

Photo: iStock

Pernod Ricard considers sale of Mumm champagne

Pernod Ricard is exploring a sale of its champagne brand G.H. Mumm, Reuters reported citing five sources familiar with the matter, as the company looks to focus on premium labels in its portfolio.

The French spirits giant behind Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish whiskey is working with investment bank Rothschild & Co on the possible divestiture, that could attract interest from other spirits and beverage companies, the sources said.

Keep ReadingShow less