Fine for the eco-bottle of Sant'Anna water: on the label of the "Bio Bottle" there were environmental values higher than the real ones. The advertising of Sant'Anna water, which in recent years has promoted the eco-friendly bottle, is yet another case of greenwashing, or fake marketing, or at least not completely transparent.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Fine foreco-bottle of Sant'Anna water: on the label of the "Bio Bottle" were reported environmental qualities higher than the real ones. There advertising of Sant'Anna water, which in recent years has promoted the eco-friendly bottle, is yet another case of greenwashing, or bogus marketing, or at least not completely transparent.
To say it is theCompetition and market authority, who - on the recommendation of the Sicily and Mineracqua consumer lawyers association - fined the company for unfair commercial practice.
The company that bottles Sant'Anna water will now be forced to pay a fine of 30.000 euros for the message that appeared in various newspapers, from February 2010 to April 2011, and on the company website, from 2010 until July 2012.
According to the advertising slogan, the purchase of Sant'Anna water guarantees a responsible consumption, thanks to the environmental qualities of the new bottle in Pla INGEO® called "BioBottle".
In fact, according to the text released, "650 million Sant'Anna Bio Bottles allow a saving of 176.800 barrels of oil with which to heat a city of 520.000 inhabitants for a month and reduce CO2 emissions equal to a car that makes the rounds around the world for 30.082 times in a year "
In reality - as reported by the antitrust - "the figure of" 650 million bottles "mentioned in the advertisements refers to the entire annual production of Sant'Anna bottles, manufactured both in plastic (Pet) and in Pla (" Bio Bottle ").
And there is more: from sales data, "out of the total number of bottles of mineral water under the" Sant'Anna "brand sold in 2010 (over 600 million), those bottled using the" Bio Bottle "represent a share of all marginal, equal to about 0,2% ".
But that's not all, because "the quantification of the reduction of fossil energy and CO2 emissions, resulting from the production of 650 million bottles produced with PLA Ingeo® plant-based plastic, also took into consideration an additional contribution from saving of fossil energy and reduction of CO2 emissions achieved through the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) “.
This means that the environmental merits heralded by the advertisements were far superior to the real ones. Sant'Anna water is an obviously unsuccessful case of greenwashing, the result of gross and dangerous practices. Unfortunately more and more frequent.
In fact, if between the aware citizens, environmental awareness is growingThe greenwashing practices implemented by short-sighted companies, lacking innovative ideas and ethically disreputable, are also increasing.
Hence the need for monitor the quality of the initiatives with greater force and attention green marketing and, more generally, advertising messages.
"The increased environmental awareness of consumers - confirmed the Antitrust - has, in fact, induced many professionals to give more and more prominence, in the planning of their advertising campaigns, to the environmental compatibility characteristics of the products or services offered".
But that doesn't mean that the promotional campaigns must turn into false slogans, or not very transparent!
To avoid the repetition of similar events, the Council of the European Union called on the “Member States to correctly implement the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive with regard to claim ambient and has likewise invited the European Commission to include these claims in all future guidelines on the application of the directive itself ".
Verdiana Amorosi
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