ASA rules TfL and Mayor of London made misleading bus fares claim

Shell%20CO2%20claimThe Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Transport for London (TfL) have been censured by the advertising regulator for making misleading claims about bus fares.

The press ad, created by M&C Saatchi, claimed: “The Big Freeze. Single Bus Fares stay at 2000 prices with Oyster.” However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned the ad because the single cash fare outside Zone 1 is now more expensive than it had been in 2000.

The ASA has also upheld complaints against a Shell press ad showing the outline of an oil refinery with chimneys producing flowers.

The campaign, which was created by JWT, had the strapline: “Don’t throw anything away there is no away”. It also claimed: “We use our waste CO2 to grow flowers.”

The ASA said it could be interpreted to mean that Shell used all, or at least the majority, of its waste CO2 to grow flowers.

Meanwhile, the ASA has rejected complaints about a regional press ad for Ryanair that featured Sinn Fein politicians Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams with a speech bubble saying: “Ryanair fares are so low even the British Army flew home.”

Objections to the ad included claims it was offensive and trivialised the role of the British Army.