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“UK Bans U.S. Cotton Ads Over Green Claims”

The Guardian reports that the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Cotton USA campaign that ends with the tag line “soft, sensual, and sustainable“.

Skeptical consumers — three complainants, apparently— argued that cotton is a “pesticide- and energy-intensive crop” that “depletes groundwater supplies”.

Responding to the decision, Cotton Council International — the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America — contends that (1.) there is no universally accepted definition of the term sustainability and (2.) that modern U.S. cotton production meets the basic principles of sustainability defined by the U.N.:

Those principles are: economic viability, protection for the environment and social responsibility that together lead to improved quality of life for ourselves and also for future generations. (15 kb .pdf)