Lufthansa's Green Claim Grounded By The ASA

It's not been a good week for green claims and airlines. Today's publication of a decision by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority to ban a poster ad published by Lufthansa comes on the back of other news that pours cold water on environmental claims by airlines.

First, the poster. The artwork comprises an image showing the top half of an airplane, with the bottom half being planet earth. The copy states, "Connecting the world. Protecting its future." and is accompanied #MakeChangeFly and makechangefly.com. The poster is proof, if any were needed, that accusations that the Germans lack a sense of humour are unfounded, because they must have been having a laugh.

Once again, we see that the ASA is resisting the turbulence that buffets it off course. Instead, it launched its own investigation, pre-empting the complaints that would surely have been received from lobby groups and concerned citizens. By launching an investigation on its own initiative, the ASA