Sustainable period care challenger Flo has been censured by the ASA, following complaints by rival &Sisters.
The case concerned three Instagram ads by Flo, seen in January, and their use of phrases “plant-powered products”, “good for the planet”, “made with organic bamboo”, “made with organic cotton” and “bamboo viscose, made with organic bamboo”. The &Sisters brand questioned whether the claims were misleading.
Flo’s owner, Here We Flo, said “plant-powered” meant a substantial part of its products were derived from plant-based materials, rather than that the products were wholly plant-based or had no environmental impact.
“Good for the planet” was neither about a specific product nor in relation to Flo’s specific environmental impacts, Here We Flo insisted. As the claim was prefaced by “should”, it outlined an opinion about the broad aspirational standard for the female hygiene sector generally.
The supplier also explained that the raw bamboo viscose and cotton fibres in its tampons and other lines were certified as organic. The products were not presently certified as organic; the claims in the ads related to the certified status of the raw fibres.
The references to organic were to communicate that the raw materials were not grown with chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers, and therefore had a reduced risk of those residues being on a pad that touches intimate skin, Here We Flo added.
The ASA upheld &Sisters’ complaints. “The basis of environmental claims must be clear,” it said. The CAP Code “required that absolute claims must be supported by a high level of substantiation, and they should be based on the full life cycle of the advertised product, unless the marketing communication stated otherwise, and made clear the limits of the life cycle”.
“In isolation, the basis of ‘plant-powered’ as an environmental claim was unclear,” the advertising watchdog added. The basis of “good for the planet” had also not been made clear.
The ASA also ruled that Flo had “not adequately substantiated the claims” about being “plant-powered” and “organic”. Additionally, non-organic materials were used by the brand. The top sheet of its pads, for instance, “contained corn-derived polylactic acid, a biopolymer that was not organic, and the string of their tampons had an oil-derived hydrophobic coating”.
The watchdog concluded that Flo’s ads were likely to mislead and must not appear again in the form complained of. “We told Here We Flo to ensure the basis of environmental claims such as ‘plant-powered’ or ‘good for the planet’ were made clear, that they held a high level of evidence to support any absolute environmental claims made in their ads, and that they made clear the extent of any organic certification.”
A spokesperson from Here We Flo said: “Transparency is paramount to us, and we welcome regulatory feedback in a rapidly evolving environment. We are proud that our products are certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard and the Organic Content Standard, and as plant-based by the UK Vegetarian Society.
“As a growing business we are constantly evolving to represent our products in the most accurate and compliant way.”
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