Several 'misleading' Primark claims scrutinised by Dutch watchdog

Earlier this year, several claims and statements from the Dutch arm of Primark came under scrutiny. The investigation was carried out by the Advertising Code Committee, which in October labelled several of the chain's expressions as misleading. Primark appealed, but to no avail.

Now, the Board of Appeal has also ruled Primark's investigated claims as misleading, it has emerged today. The investigation was conducted into advertisements in Primark's own shops in the Netherlands and on its Dutch website.

One of the advertisements scrutinised by the complaint were Primark's billboards showing pictures of garment makers. These pictures are accompanied by the words "training for equality" and "opportunities for all". At the bottom of the poster, it stated in smaller font that Primark does not intend to address this until 2030.

The Board of Appeal said the claims made by Primark are not sufficiently substantiated. "Insufficiently substantiated to assume that the ambition will be achieved (in time)," was the official verdict. On other claims, the organisation said it was not clear enough that Primark's communicated targets were ambitions and not already achieved result.

"While we are pleased that the Appeals Board was satisfied with some of the Primark Cares roadmaps, the mixed ruling highlights the real challenges and differing opinions on how best to communicate these complex issues to consumers. We welcome this important discussion and will continue to think carefully about how to share Primark's progress on sustainability with our customers," a Primark spokesperson told FashionUnited.