ASA ruling on sports clothing retailer

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that a paid-for Google ad for adidas was misleading and couldn’t be substantiated.

Adidas stated that consumers would consider the claim “Recycled Running Shoes “to mean shoes containing materials from recycled sources, and that a drop-down menu on the website contained information on the recycled content of the product, if any. They also claimed that all recycled content claims were substantiated through internal product documentation and material verification processes.

ASA, considering the context of the ad, was likely to be understood as meaning that all shoes in their recycled running shoe range were made from 100% recycled materials. As the claim was absolute and no evidence was produced to show that the shoes were made from 100% recycled materials, ASA ruled that the ad was unsubstantiated and likely to mislead.