ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

In May 2020, the JDP received a complaint from France Nature Environment, a federation of associations for the protection of the environment, about an advertising campaign promoting the Clipper brand of lighters in a catalogue and on the website and social media of the company Flamagas.

The catalogue included the claims, “Clipper protects the planet”, “Clipper, the reusable, refillable gas and stone lighter, avoids the proliferation of plastic waste” and “Clipper also contributes to the reforestation of the planet”.

The website stated that “Clipper protects the planet”, and “At Clipper, we are sensitive to environmental impact, which is why we offer a sustainable product that encourages reuse and helps reduce contamination. Let’s take care of our planet!” and “It’s more ecological to recharge than to throw away. Every year, more than a thousand million disposable lighters are sold, consuming a large amount of natural resources. Clipper is the only authentic refillable lighter with the option not to dispose and replace”.

The website also had a link to a Facebook page containing a video with images of pollution accompanied by the text, “A PLANET DEGRADED BY THE MASSIVE DISCHARGE OF PLASTIC WASTE, HOW TO AVOID IT”, followed by images of forests and natural landscapes with the words, “USING NON-DISPOSABLE PRODUCTS, LIKE CLIPPER CLASSIC… IS THE SOLUTION IN A MASSIVELY DISPOSABLE MARKET… CLIPPER ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO REFORESTATION OF THE PLANET, BY PLANTING THOUSANDS OF TREES PER YEAR”, and concluding with the text, “PROTECT THE PLANET”.

France Nature Environnement complained that the company’s claims were vague, misleading and unevidenced, contrary to the SDR and the ICC Communications Code. The fact the Clipper lighter can be refilled was not sufficient to demonstrate that purchasing such a lighter “protects the planet”. No precise information was provided about the effective reuse of plastic lighters sold under the Clipper brand or how many times they can be refilled, or about the pollution generated by the refill process or the fate of plastic lighters at the end of their cycle. The assertion that “Clipper also contributes to the reforestation of the planet” gave the impression that the act of buying a lighter has a direct link with reforestation. This was likely to mislead the public about the reality of the advertiser’s actions and the properties of its products in terms of sustainable development.

In response, Flamagas submitted that reusable lighters constituted a real breakthrough in the plastic lighter market and that the claims made were justified and could be substantiated. In a market where 90% of plastic lighters were disposable, marketing reusable plastic lighters inevitably contributed to the reduction of plastic waste. On reforestation, Flamagas said it had signed contracts in 2018 and 2020 with the Areas Verdes association, which fought climate change through the creation of new forests and wooded fields, which represented several thousand trees planted by the company. It stated that it made no link between its reforestation actions and Clipper lighters.

In its opinion of July 2020, the JDP found that criticisms of the catalogue were inadmissible because the complainant had not established that its distribution took place less than two months before the receipt of the complaint.

However, it found that the online advertising campaign, which was not accompanied by figures to back up the claims made, especially in relation to environmental impact, was imprecise and did not accurately express the advertiser’s actions or the properties of its products. The combination of the text of the video with images of forest emphasised the disproportionate “protect the planet” message and likely created an unreasonable connection between the general actions of the advertiser in terms of sustainable development and the specific properties of the product promoted.

As a result, the JDP was of the opinion that the advertising campaign disregarded the SDR and the ICC Code.