ASA bans Lacoste, Nike and Superdry over ‘misleading’ claims

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned three online ads from Lacoste, Nike and Superdry after finding each made “misleading” sustainability claims about their clothing ranges. The rulings form part of a wider investigation into environmental messaging in the fashion sector, prompted by the regulator’s AI-driven monitoring system.

The paid-for Google ads, each seen in June 2025, promoted children’s clothing, tennis polo shirts and general apparel using phrases including “sustainable clothing”, “sustainable materials” and “Sustainable Style”. 

The ASA judged that all three amounted to absolute environmental claims that required a high level of evidence across a product’s full life cycle.

The case against Lacoste centred on an ad for its children’s range. The company said it had increased its use of certified fabrics, including organic cotton and recycled fibres, and that life cycle analysis showed reductions in its environmental footprint between its 2022 and 2025 seasonal collections. Around 78% of its online kidswear at the time used certified materials. 

Lacoste said the ad was withdrawn once concerns were raised and accepted that broad claims such as “sustainable” were difficult to substantiate.

Nike adopted a similar position, stating that its ad highlighting “sustainable materials” was intended to signal the availability of products made with recycled polyester. The retailer said all of its Summer 2025 tennis polo shirts used at least 75% recycled materials, and product pages contained further detail about composition. 

Nike relied on the Higg Materials Sustainability Index to demonstrate reductions in carbon emissions associated with recycled polyester on a cradle-to-gate basis. It argued that character limits on Google ads restricted the information it could include.

Superdry meanwhile told the regulator that its claim about “Sustainable Style” reflected that many of its garments and accessories carried recognised credentials, assessed using standards from the Textile Exchange. It said 64% of all garments, footwear and accessories bought in 2024 contained sustainably sourced materials, supported by transaction certificates and documented fabric composition. 

The company accepted that full life-cycle information for its products was not publicly available and that the ad had therefore been produced in error.

In each ruling, the ASA said the claims lacked essential qualifying information. It found that terms such as “sustainable” and “sustainable materials” were likely to be interpreted by consumers as meaning that the products as a whole had no negative environmental impact across their life cycle. 

The regulator referenced Competition and Markets Authority guidance for fashion retailers, which warns that general or absolute claims are prone to misleading shoppers unless the basis is made clear.

The watchdog recognised evidence of reduced impacts or increased use of certified materials across the retailers’ lines. However, it said none had shown their products caused no environmental harm when assessed from raw materials to end-of-life. The ads, it concluded, breached rules on misleading advertising, substantiation and environmental claims under the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising.

All three ads must not appear again in the form investigated, and the ASA instructed each retailer to ensure the basis of any future environmental claims are set out clearly and supported by robust evidence.