Belgian researcher: Almost every single car ad in the EU is illegal
Photo by kadavy. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Europeans don't monkey around when it comes to cigarette warning labels. Large print, simple messages, and impossible to avoid. Apparently, vehicle advertisements need to be a little more clear about the dangers the vehicle poses to the pocketbook and the environment.
Car ads that references a specific make and model, according to EU directive 1999/94/EC, which passed in December 1999, need to reveal fuel use and CO2 emissions in way that is easy to read and prominent and "be easy to understand even on superficial contact." While some car advertisements in the EU and UK have come under fire for being misleading (see examples by Toyota and Lexus and Hummer), a researcher at a Belgian university found that almost every single car ad (99 percent) in the EU is illegal.
Examples of what car ads should look like and ways to voice your concern are available at this site, which was set up by ten environmental and greener car groups, including Greenpeace and the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s (4x4 is the British way of saying SUV).
[Source: The Economist, h/t to Jeroen V.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mark 6:20AM (3/24/2008)
4x4 is the rest of the worlds way of saying "SUV". What the heck is a "Sports Utility Vehicle" anyway? A utility vehicle has a tray, a sports vehicle is high performance... From those combined definitions you end up with a HSV Maloo, not a 4x4.
I guess most "SUV"s are two wheel drive?
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Zigster 10:47AM (3/24/2008)
a 4x4 is a truck with a gunrack and fog lights attached to a rollcage - that's strictly a redneck truck or something you'd find at the county fair
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