Comms Declare’s complaint against a LinkedIn video posted by Whitehaven Coal has been dismissed by Ad Standards.
The advertisement related to Whitehaven Coal’s major “rehabilitation milestone” at the Blackwater Mine: the certification of 63.4 hectares of pasture and 45 hectares of woodland.
The video claimed the company delivered “best practice” and transforms “productive agricultural landscapes” to deliver “sustainable postmining outcomes”.
Comms Declare argued the video was designed to create a false impression that Whitehaven’s operations are “sustainable”, a claim that is not substantiated when viewed against the company’s actual environmental record and emissions profile.
Ad Standards replied: “While your concern does fall within the advertising rules, it relates to an issue that has been considered on many occasions by the Panel which has found that it does not breach the advertising codes. On this basis the Chair considers that the advertisement would not breach the Code.”