- A diesel advert claiming lower CO₂ emissions was found to be misleading.
- The watchdog said environmental claims must include enough context for ordinary consumers.
- The ruling raises the bar for green marketing and greenwashing in South Africa.
If a company tells you its fuel helps lower carbon emissions, it must also explain how, under what conditions, and whether that benefit applies to your vehicle.
That is the message from South Africa’s Advertising Appeals Committee, which has ruled that TotalEnergies’ advertising for its Excellium Diesel fuel created a misleading environmental impression.
How we got here
The case began after environmental campaign group Fossil Free South Africa challenged a claim on TotalEnergies’ website promoting Excellium Diesel. The advert invited motorists to discover the three-in-one power of the premium diesel and listed lower CO₂ emissions as one of its three headline benefits.
Fossil Free argued the claim amounted to greenwashing because it presented a broad environmental benefit without telling consumers the evidence came from a single laboratory test on one Volkswagen T-Roc under specific driving conditions.
The organisation said motorists were never told what vehicle was tested, what fuel it was compared against, or whether similar results could be expected in their own vehicles.
TotalEnergies said the science was sound
TotalEnergies denied making an exaggerated environmental promise, arguing that the advert was primarily about engine performance, fuel efficiency and increased driving range.
The company said it held independent emissions testing conducted by Germany’s APL laboratory and maintained that the detailed results were publicly available on its EcoSolutions website. It also argued that the lower CO₂ claim reflected the ordinary link between improved engine efficiency and reduced fuel consumption.
Why the watchdog ruled against the advert
The Advertising Appeals Committee agreed that scientific evidence existed. The problem, it said, was not the testing itself but the impression created for consumers.
The committee found that environmental claims must provide accurate information that is meaningful to the consumer and should not contain vague, incomplete or irrelevant statements about environmental matters.
It concluded that telling motorists a fuel produces lower CO₂ emissions explains the mechanism behind the claim, but says nothing about how much emissions are reduced, under what conditions the result was achieved, or whether the same benefit applies to other vehicles.
The committee also rejected TotalEnergies’ argument that consumer surveys were needed to prove people had been misled, saying the Code applies the objective standard of a reasonable consumer, not evidence of actual confusion.
The appeal was dismissed, leaving the original ruling in place and reinforcing a tougher approach to environmental claims that overstate a product’s climate benefits.
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