ASAI upholds complaint against Galway Arts Festival advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint made about advertising for last year’s Galway International Arts Festival.

The complaint centered on the statement “powering the Galway International Arts Festival with green energy”.

The complainant argued it appeared to be the case that some of the venues relied on mains power, the composition of which may not be renewable.

They further said the venue also had a discreetly cordoned off diesel generator which could not be considered green energy.

The Arts Festival said that the reference to “Powering the International Arts Festival with green energy” had not indicated that they had exclusively relied on green energy.

It offered that instead, they had outlined in the media how to some extent the festival was being powered by green and sustainable energy.

The complaint was upheld by the ASAI, who said it considered consumers would understand the phrase to mean all power was generated from renewable sources.

It concluded that the claim had the potential to mislead consumers and was in breach of several codes.