Prism+ air-con ad featuring Xiaxue deemed misleading by advertising standards watchdog
SINGAPORE — Singapore's advertising standards watchdog has deemed some of the claims made in an advertisement by electronics retailer Prism+ "not acceptable".
The ad, posted on Prism+'s Instagram account, was for its Zero Smart air-conditioner and featured social media personality Xiaxue, whose real name is Wendy Cheng.
It claimed that using the Prism+ air-con model was the "best tip" to "save Earth", the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) said in response to CNA's queries on Friday (Dec 15).
The ad also showed Xiaxue setting the temperature to 23°C to "save Earth", noted ASAS.
"The (ASAS) council is of the position that these are not acceptable ... to communicate that the product brings about energy savings, irrespective of whether they can be demonstrated, in view of the energy such appliances consume," said the watchdog.
Under the fifth general principle of the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP), advertisements should not mislead in any way by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or other means. They should also not misrepresent any matter likely to influence consumers' attitudes.
When asked if this incident was the first time an advertising campaign was nixed over greenwashing claims in Singapore or Asia, ASAS said that it "had received one other piece of feedback about greenwashing since 2020, and that was not found to have breached the SCAP".
Prism+ was informed of the council's decision and was asked to either amend or remove their ad. The company opted to remove the Instagram post in question, said ASAS.
A check by CNA on Friday showed that the post was unavailable.
ASAS said it reminded Prism+ that any claims on energy savings should be substantiated via tests on the Zero Smart air-conditioner and comparable models conducted by independent parties in conditions applicable to Singapore's context.
PRISM+ SAYS IT NEVER INTENTIONALLY MADE UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS
Prism+ told CNA on Friday evening that the ad had stopped running weeks before it was approached by ASAS on Dec 5.
"We scheduled the ads to run from Oct 17 to Nov 19," a Prism+ spokesperson said.
"Prism+ prides itself on transparency of our product features and quality, and maintains that the energy-saving features on the ad are not misrepresented. This is something that we are prepared to stand by," the company added.
"However, given our healthy relationship with ASAS, we will always consider their point of view in terms of advertorial guidelines, especially if it affects our consumers."
In response to questions on whether it will refine future marketing campaigns, Prism+ said it has never intentionally made unsubstantiated claims with regard to its product's energy-saving capabilities.
"However, we will always maintain a cooperative working relationship with ASAS and other organisations for the benefit of consumers with regards to future marketing campaigns," Prism+ said.
It added that energy savings, while important, is "not a key selling point" for its products, given that all the other air-con brands also offer five-tick energy-saving air conditioners.
WHAT IS GREENWASHING?
Greenwashing is the act of making false or misleading claims about the environmental merits of a product, service or technology.
The Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act protects consumers against false or misleading claims, including those related to greenwashing.
In March 2023, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan said in Parliament that the Consumers Association of Singapore and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) had not received any specific complaints about greenwashing.
The CCCS and National University of Singapore Business School in November published a study on greenwashing in marketing claims.
It found that more than half of online product claims were "vague with insufficient elaboration or details to support the claims".
CCCS said that it was developing a set of guidelines to address greenwashing conduct by suppliers.CNA
