ASA gives thumbs up to EDF green ads, but Ecotricity row rumbles on

The spat between Ecotricity and EDF over the latter's use of a green Union flag in a recent marketing campaign reignited today, despite the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruling that the ads did not mislead viewers.

The series of TV and print ads from EDF to promote its Green Britain Day marketing campaign and support for the London 2012 Olympics courted controversy back in July when it made prominent use of a green Union flag, similar to that previously used in marketing material by Ecotricity.

The campaign sparked a threat of legal action from Ecotricity, which accused its rival of 'passing off' - the practice of misrepresenting goods or services as being the goods and services of the claimant.

It also prompted a number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ads were misleading on the grounds that the image suggested EDF was both British and green, when it is a French-owned company and a major provider of fossil fuel and nuclear power.

However, the advertising watchdog today rejected the complaints, ruling that the adverts were designed to encourage viewers to take environmentally friendly actions as part of the Green Britain Day campaign and not promote EDF's own green credentials. It concluded that " consumers were likely to be aware that EDF was a conventional energy provider that utilised mainly non-renewable sources of generation".

It also noted that EDF was registered in the UK, and while it had a French parent company the ads did not explicitly state the company was British and, as a result, were unlikely to mislead.

EDF welcomed the ruling, issuing a statement defending the campaign and its record of compliance with advertising rules. "Creating a greener Britain requires collaboration on a massive scale – between communities, businesses, government and the voluntary sector," said a spokesman for the company. "Only by coming together will we be able to rise to the challenge of climate change. As such, Team Green Britain is a call to action to everyone to get involved."

However, Dale Vince, founder and chief executive of Ecotricity, criticised the ASA's decision, arguing that the ads created a false impression of EDF's environmental credentials.

"To most people, a green Union Jack represents something or someone green and British. And to most people, EDF are neither, being both nuclear and French," he said. "However many sugar-coated, low-carbon blandishments EDF comes out with, the truth is in the numbers - they are one of the world's biggest polluters and their contribution to new renewable capacity in the UK is truly pitiful."