Marque accused of misleading campaign

A complaint about Mazda Motors of New Zealand’s promotional material for a tree-planting programme has been filed with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) by Lawyers for Climate Action NZ.

The complaint, which is also supported by climate change mitigation specialist Paul Young, alleges the company is misleading consumers about the environmental effectiveness of its scheme.

Lawyers for Climate Action NZ allege advertising on Mazda’s website said it donated five trees to the Trees That Count organisation for each new car sold and claims that “over each vehicle’s five-year warranty term, these five trees will … mitigate any environmental impact from CO2 emissions”.

“This claim does not withstand scrutiny”, says Jessica Palairet, executive director at Lawyers for Climate Action.

Young has calculated that Mazda’s tree plantings will barely offset any of the emissions of the cars it sells. 

For example, he says the trees would offset less than 0.1 per cent of emissions from the manufacture and use of a Mazda CX-5, a standard petrol car, over its first five years.

According to Young’s figures, a new Mazda CX-5 will emit about 12.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from petrol burnt in its first five years, and about 23 tonnes if considering lifecycle emissions. By contrast, he estimates five native trees would absorb about 0.0015 tonnes of CO2 in this time.

“You would need approximately 41,000 native trees to cover the 12.7 tonnes of emissions of a CX-5 in five years,” says Young. “Even compared over longer timeframes, Mazda’s claims do not come anywhere close to stacking up.”

Palairet, pictured, says the advertising is “textbook greenwashing”. She claims it attempts to leverage consumers’ concerns about the environment and make them feel better about buying products that contribute to climate change while overstating the benefit of Mazda’s tree-planting programme. 

“That is irresponsible and unfair, both to consumers trying to make informed choices, and to other companies making more accurate environmental claims,” she adds.

 “While it’s obviously in the public interest for companies like Mazda to run tree-planting campaigns, marketing claims must accurately reflect what those programmes can actually achieve”.

Paul Sherley, Mazda Motors of NZ’s product and communications manager, says the company has responded to the ASA over the allegations.

“Mazda was contacted on Monday by the ASA with regards to a complaint about some specific wording on our website,” he told Autofile Online.

“This complaint has been acknowledged and addressed by Mazda, and correspondence has been made to the ASA in reply.”