ASA Ruling on Lufthansa (complaint no.2 in 2023)

"A paid-for Google ad for Lufthansa, seen in July 2023, stated “Fly now with Lufthansa […] Book your ticket directly with Lufthansa and explore destinations around the world […] Fly more sustainably”. The relevant advertising code stated that the basis of environmental claims must be clear. Unqualified claims could mislead if they omitted significant information. Comparative claims could be justified if the basis of the comparison was clear. Consumers would understand the claim that people could “Fly more sustainably” with Lufthansa to mean that they offered a way to travel by air that had a lower environmental impact than alternative airlines. The ad did not clarify how this claim worked in practice, and the basis of the claim was likely to be material information which consumers would need in order to make an informed decision. While it was noted that flying with the Green Fares option used “sustainable aviation fuel” as part of the fuel mix for that flight and made contributions to climate protection projects, and that this might decrease some of the negative environmental impact of flying with Lufthansa, the basis for the claim ""Fly more sustainably” had not been made clear. The ad gave a misleading impression of Lufthansa’s environmental impact, in breach of the relevant code." The ASA found the ad in breach of (1) Rule 3.1 - misleading advertising (2) Rule 11.1 - Environmental claims: basis must be clear (3) Rule 11.3 - Absolute environmental claims require high substantiation. The ASA instructed Lufthansa: (1) not to run the ad again in this form and (2) to ensure all future environmental claims are substantiated and non‑misleading.