Saab Australia busted for misleading green claims, ordered to plant LOTS of trees
Marketers have been known to make claims that test our good sense, our gullibility and our patience. But in a field in which it's often the best story -- not the best product -- that wins, some of the more unsightly details can get left out when making a pitch. Nevertheless, there is still, as Pinocchio's nose would tell you, a line between a tall tale and what's commonly referred to as a lie.
Saab Australia drove its entire model range over that line when it claimed in a campaign last year that "Every Saab is green, with carbon emissions neutral across the entire Saab range." The ads also said Saab would plant 17 native trees to offset the CO2 emissions for the lifespan of each car it sold. Turns out that 17 trees only offsets the carbon produced in the first year of a car's life. Saab left that part out when they
Australia's competition watchdog took Saab's parent company, GM Holden, to court, and in a verdict for truth and the environment, Saab's claims were declared, ahem, "misleading". GM has pledged to "retrain its marketing staff in relation to making green claims," and plant a forest of 12,500 trees to cover the lifetime emissions of all the cars sold during the campaign.
[Source: Drive]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Franz 2:04PM (9/19/2008)
LMAO. Liars.
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Mondrell 2:16PM (9/19/2008)
If only this or a similar fib was made stateside. And with some relation to trucks. . .
matt 2:04PM (9/19/2008)
what's really "misleading" is the effect of co2 on the climate. co2 concentration has increased in the last ten years yet it's getting colder.
I wonder when coca-cola will start planting trees.
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BigMcLargeHuge 2:58PM (9/19/2008)
Independent Thought Alert.
This, the party cannot tolerate! 10 years in the gulag for re-education, Comrade.
tacomaboy 4:02PM (9/19/2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_temperature_record
tony20sux 6:31PM (9/19/2008)
Getting colder? Tell that to the melting ice caps!!
SilverAero 2:05PM (9/19/2008)
Marketing Fail.
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notYou 4:11PM (9/19/2008)
Can't they just buy carbon-credits to offset the lies, err, creative discrepancies?
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Jerk Face 2:14PM (9/19/2008)
Busted!
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rg 3:18PM (9/19/2008)
Too bad planting trees offests NOTHING!!! I hope they dig them out of the ground and "plant" them somewhere else. That's how stupid "carbon offsetting" is! There is no offset. You either do or don't. Period.
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MachinaDC5 2:46PM (9/19/2008)
Hmm... Well at least they're DOING something about it instead of just paying some government money. Kind of cool I guess. But then again, I'm sure it's all PR.
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Starnerf 3:02PM (9/19/2008)
Is there some reason why the trees stop offsetting the carbon emissions? Do they cut them down after a year or something?
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Brent 4:36PM (9/19/2008)
I think that the life of 17 trees (many years) only takes in 1 years worth of Saab emissions.
inbredone 7:27PM (9/19/2008)
its bs but trees around the equator before co2 got out of control actually regulated earths atmo. a tree absorbs co2 and releases o. where in aus are they to be planted? to benefit aus if planted correctly. but to just blow over the oceans if not.
Rocketboy 11:11PM (9/20/2008)
Hell, one tree would work if it lived long enough. I just think it's funny that a company got in trouble for their 'greenwashing' campaign not being truthfull, but to make up for it, they have to do more greenwashing. It's like busting a psychic for being a fake, and the punishment is that they have to give free readings.
ALL AMERICAN DUDE XX 3:08PM (9/19/2008)
LOL...but i thought SAAB's recycle exhaust gasses too??
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1337 5:38PM (9/19/2008)
that commercial was so dumb. what a poor explanation of how a turbo works.
oh, and if i really don't want an overpriced GM epsilon, can I just buy a 3-series and then plant 17 trees?
saabyurk 3:09PM (9/19/2008)
Your headline and article is more than a bit misleading, almost anti-evil-Saab. If you read the various news articles, you will find that this was an agreement between Saab and the ACCC, suggested by Saab, to which the judge agreed and signed an order by "consent". The ACC, acknowledged in the settlement that Saab did not intentionally deceive. In fact, Saab had corrected the ads before the ACCC or anyone else got involved. It was Saab's idea to plant the additional trees covering CO2 emissions for 10 years.
As MachinaDC5 said, at least they're doing something. They have a history of being concerned about the environment.
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ignelson 3:15PM (9/19/2008)
Some poor SOB at SAAB will pay for this!
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Berto 4:22PM (9/19/2008)
A company straight up lying in Australia.... WHAT?!!!
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