Have your say: Car ads going green? - Introduction

Roger Stansfield, What Car?'s Associate Editor, analyses proposals to force car manufacturers to carry efficiency and emissions information on their car adverts. After reading his analysis of the situation, let us know your thoughts by emailing in.

Glossy car ads could soon be things of the past.

One pressure group has already won a victory over the British Government over the style and content of car advertising in magazines and on billboards, and if the European Commission has its way, future ads will look like cigarette packets, with Government ‘health warnings’ – giving fuel consumption and CO2 emissions information – occupying 20% of the space.

The UK Government has historically believed that ‘primarily graphical’ ads with the name of the car and a slogan were acceptable without prominent economy and emissions information.

However, the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s, a pressure group whose tactics have included picketing Land Rover dealerships and pinning ‘Climate Criminal’ stickers to four-wheel-drive vehicles, challenged this.

Faced with the threat of a judicial review, the Government backed down.


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