Ford escaped an ASA ban for 'zero emissions' that caught MG and BMW

Weeks after the ASA reprimanded MG and BMW over 'zero emissions' EV claims, Ford faced an investigation over its own ad — with the whole EV industry watching how the line would be drawn.

The ad, seen on Google on 16 August 2023, read: 'The ultimate all-electric SUV is here. The Explorer. Redefine the meaning of adventure… Zero-emissions driving. Fast charging. Driver Assistance Tech.' ASA's Active Ad Monitoring flagged it; Ford defended its position but agreed to amend the claim to 'zero-emissions while driving' in future ads.

No action: ASA ruled the specific context meant consumers would read the claim as covering driving only, not the vehicle's whole life cycle — separating Ford from the MG and BMW reprimands.

The PA news agency reported on 21 February 2024 that the UK's Advertising Standards Authority would take no action against Ford after the carmaker claimed 'zero emissions driving' in an ad — weeks after a bombshell ruling that carmakers could not describe electric vehicles as 'zero emissions', which saw MG and BMW reprimanded for misleading claims.

The Ford ad, a paid-for Google promotion seen on 16 August 2023, promoted the new all-electric Explorer SUV with the line 'The ultimate all-electric SUV is here… Zero-emissions driving. Fast charging. Driver Assistance Tech.' It was identified by the watchdog's Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search online ads that might break the rules.

The ASA found the claim was 'unlikely to mislead' because the surrounding text placed it in the context of specific features: 'While the ad included the claim Zero-emissions driving, we noted that it was immediately followed by references to Fast charging and Driver Assistance Tech.' Consumers therefore would not read it as a comment on manufacture, use and disposal emissions. Ford, in its evidence, agreed to amend the claim to 'zero-emissions while driving' to be clearer in future.

The word 'driving' narrowed the claim to use-phase emissions before anyone argued about it.

Adjacent feature claims ('Fast charging', 'Driver Assistance Tech') framed the ad as spec listing, not environmental marketing.

Ford co-operated, agreeing to sharpen the wording rather than fight the principle.

The contrast with MG and BMW shows the ASA ruling on context, not on the two words alone.

Regulatory survival can hinge on a word and its neighbours: 'driving', flanked by charging and tech claims, turned a banned claim into a permitted one.

ASA decided no further action was necessary, and Ford agreed to run 'zero-emissions while driving' in future ads. No changes to the live ad were reported.