MPOC retains TBWA-ISC amid greenwashing claims

The Omnicom agency beat WPP rival Ogilvy & Mather in a competitive pitch to reclaim the business.

MPOC's last international TV campaign, which aired in the US, Europe and Asia, was slammed in the UK by environmental groups. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) later found that the ads were misleading.

The TV campaign, by TBWA-ISC (viewable at malaysiapalmoil.org), featured the voice-over: "Malaysia Palm Oil. Its trees give life and help our planet breathe." The endline read: "Malaysia Palm Oil. A gift from nature. A gift for life."

The ASA concluded that the ad tried to persuade viewers that oil-palm plantations were as environmentally beneficial as native rain forests, which environmentalists say are being cleared to make way for palm trees.
MPOC fought back, insisting that since 1990 oil-palm plantations in Malaysia have been planted on already cleared land, not natural rain forest.

Aaron Cowie, COO of TBWA-ISC, said that a follow-up campaign would be approached differently and that "lessons had been learned". But he insisted that his client "stood by the facts", and that NGOs had overreacted to the commercials.

Malaysia is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, accounting for 30 per cent of global trade.