Description:
In an online video regarding sustainable oil production, the advertiser claimed, “if all oil-producing countries in the world adopted environmental regulations similar to Saskatchewan, greenhouse gas emissions from oil production would be cut by 25 percent”.
Complaint:
The complainant alleged the claim was inaccurate and that the advertiser drew its conclusion from an erroneous news article about a 2018 research paper that was later corrected in 2023. The complainant also noted that she verified her perception of the article with one of the newspaper’s lead authors and provided a link to each of these two news articles as well as a copy of her exchange with said author.
Response:
Although Ad Standards requested a response from the advertiser, there was no response sent to Council.
Decision:
Given there was no substantiation provided to Council in support of the claim challenged by the complainant, as requested, Council members unanimously found that the advertiser did not meet its obligation to provide competent and reliable evidence to support its claim, as required under Clause 1(e) of the Code.
Infraction:
Clause 1(e)
