The United Kingdom's advertising authority has barred a U.S. cotton industry group from promoting itself as "sustainable" owing to its subsidies and negative impacts on the environment.
The ruling from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) follows a complaint by Jack Thurston, co-founder of Farmsubsidy.org, a group that publishes information about agricultural subsidies in Europe. Mr. Thurston objected to billboards posted in the UK, in which the Cotton Council International (CCI), the export promotion arm of The National Cotton Council of America, claimed that cotton produced in the U.S. is "soft, sensual and sustainable."
Mr. Thurston's submission to the ASA challenged that claim on economic and environmental grounds. He pointed to the subsidies that the U.S. cotton industry receives, and WTO complaints that charge that these subsidies are harming cotton producers in poorer countries.
"Without the extraordinary level of U.S. government subsidies for its cotton farmers, the U.S. cotton industry would not exist at anywhere near its current size. If it were run in a sustainable manner (that is to say, without taxpayer subsidy and with market demand determining production output) U.S. cotton's market share would shrink in comparison to other cotton producing countries," wrote Mr. Thurston is his submission to the ASA.
Mr. Thurston's submission also argues that subsidies which drive over-production have led to soil erosion, depletion of water resources and a high use of pesticides.
The CCI countered those arguments, claiming that, since 1930, the amount of land devoted to growing contton has fallen while yields have risen. The CCI also rebuffs the claim that the difficulties faced by cotton farmers in West Africa are the fault of American farmers. Rather, it lays blame on corporate monopolies in the region, and the fact that many farmers have rejected genetically modified crops.
In its 12 March decision, the ASA weighed both positions. It concedes that the term "sustainable" is ambiguous. It also admits that there is considerable debate over whether cotton grown in the U.S. can lay claim to the term.
"We concluded that the claim "soft, sensual and sustainable" in the ad misleadingly implied the sustainability of the CCI's cotton was universally agreed," said the ASA. As such, the CCI has been ordered to not post the ads in their current form.
