Rabobank ordered to change misleading world hunger ad
Rabobank must change one of its advertisements about sustainability and world hunger, the Dutch advertising code committee RCC ruled after receiving a complaint about the bank's promise to "solve the world food problem together". Rabobank will make the necessary adjustments, RTL Nieuws reports.
The problem with the ad is the sentence [translated from Dutch]: "Imagine that we solve the food problem together and that you can keep us to that promise". According to the RCC, this sentence is misleading because Rabobank can not plausibly show that it's approach indeed solves the world food problem.
The RCC hasn't published its judgment yet, because the period to appeal has not expired yet. But a spokesperson for the bank told RTL Z that the sentence will be removed from the ad. "We have been asked to adjust the advertisement, we'll adjust what needs to be adjusted", the spokesperson said.
The RCC's rulings are in principle not binding, but they are followed in most cases, a spokesperson for the committee said to RTL. If the ad remains unchanged, the RCC will report it to the authority for consumer and market ACM. The ACM can ultimately impose a fine, but that is hardly ever necessary, according to the spokesperson.
