A client authority in Denmark has reported BMW, the German automobile producer, to the police, based on Reuters, for a advertising and marketing marketing campaign by which BMW referred to as itself “the world’s most sustainable automobile producer,” which the buyer authority says is deceptive, most likely as a result of BMW might not be the world’s most sustainable automobile producer.

The Danish Shopper Ombudsman’s press launch on the matter, as translated by Google, is pleasant:

BMW Denmark has been reported to the police after utilizing statements in a advertising and marketing marketing campaign in 2021 and 2022, which, within the opinion of the Shopper Ombudsman, have been appropriate to present shoppers the impression that BMW’s vehicles have been considerably much less dangerous to the surroundings than different vehicles.

Within the marketing campaign, BMW used, amongst different issues, statements resembling “The world’s most sustainable automobile producer”, “There may be sustainability in each automobile that BMW produces”, and “The complete manufacturing chain for the BMW iX is inexperienced” on BMW’s web site, in an commercial on Fb, on ads within the streetscape in Copenhagen and/or in ads on Berlingske’s web site.

The Shopper Ombudsman has assessed that the statements have been deceptive and due to this fact in breach of the Advertising and marketing Act, because the measures taken by BMW to provide vehicles in a much less environmentally dangerous means are traditional for related automobile producers’ environmental and sustainability measures. Within the opinion of the Shopper Ombudsman, the statements additionally made BMW’s vehicles seem as if they’re much less dangerous to the surroundings than they really are.

Take that, BMW, which stated in a press release that it’s cooperating, based on Reuters:

Responding to the claims in a separate assertion, BMW stated, “it’s working constructively with the ombudsman and the police and is offering needed info,” including that it couldn’t make additional feedback in an ongoing case.

It’s not clear what the upshot is right here, precisely, although based on the ombudsman’s web site, “Within the case of significant violations of the buyer safety laws which can be punishable, the Shopper Ombudsman processes instances with a view to felony sanctions,” which sounds dramatic, although so does reporting an organization to the police. The ombudsman’s web site additionally says that they’ve round 30 staff, together with a lawyer named Christina Toftegaard Nielsen who leads the authority and is quoted within the BMW press launch, who now will get to inform those that BMW has been reported to the police.