ASA Ruling Against Luxury Clothing Retailer

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that retailer, Lacoste E-commerce t/a Lacoste has misled customers by publishing an advertisement that could not be substantiated.

Lacoste published a paid-for Google ad that stated, “Lacoste Kids – Sustainable […] clothing”.

ASA was informed that the claims within the advertisement were based on the life cycle analysis on all products within the Lacoste Kids collection and assessed by a consistent impact calculation method to evaluate the environmental impact of the clothes each season. Lacoste also provided ASA analysis that showed a reduction in the carbon footprint of the clothes across all of its life cycle stages.

ASA concluded that, as the ad stated that the clothing was sustainable but contained no qualifying information, it was likely to mislead consumers as the wording was vague and unclear.