Marketers must hold evidence and take care when making claims for leather furniture. They must not describe a product as “leather” when it is not made from 100% leather or they risk misleading consumers. Here are some useful tips to help ensure marketers do not mislead when advertising leather furniture.

Consumers have been misled by ads that claim to be for leather furniture when in fact the composition of leather has fallen short of the most relevant British Standards and therefore should not be described as "leather" at all.

“Leather” or “bonded leather”?

We understand that advertisers are describing their products in a host of different ways, using the term “leather” or “bonded leather” or similar depending on the composition of the material. We believe consumers would consider a claim for a “leather” sofa to mean the sofa is made from 100% leather, and a claim for “bonded leather” to mean that the material comprises largely of leather.

The ASA has ruled on this issue. An ad by Love Sofas Ltd, a furniture company, ran into trouble for misleadingly implying that a sofa was “leather” when it in fact only comprised of 35% leather.

Make sure your ads do not mislead

When describing a product as “leather” and if that is, in fact, not the case, then your ad risks misleading consumers. Where advertisers wish to describe their products as “bonded leather” we would advise that the British Standard is referred to before making those claims.

Marketers should:

• ensure they hold evidence for the leather claims they are making;
• ensure they do not mislead consumers by describing a product as ‘leather’ if it does not comprise fully of leather;
• ensure they do not mislead consumers by describing a product as ‘bonded leather fibre’ if the composition does not meet the British Standard of a minimum of 50% leather content.

A quick look at the definitions:

The British Standards “Glossary of Leather terms” provides a definition of ‘leather’ which would be a good starting point for marketers. The term ‘leather’ should not be used where the product does not conform to the definition.

3.1.1 leather

"hide or skin with its original fibrous structure more or less intact, tanned to be imputrescible, where the hair or wool may or may not have been removed, whether or not the hide or skin has been split into layers or segmented either before or after tanning and where any surface coating or surface layer, however applied, is not thicker than 0,15 mm

NOTE 1 If the tanned hide or skin is disintegrated mechanically and/or chemically into fibrous particles, small pieces or powders and then, with or without the combination of a binding agent, is made into sheets or other forms, such sheets or forms are not leather."

The British Standards “Glossary of Leather terms”

In addition, the Glossary includes the term ‘bonded leather fibre’ which is also known as ‘leather fibre board’ and marketers should take note that other components should be declared as part of the description of the product.

3.4.1 leather fibre board

"term for material where tanned hides or skins are disintegrated mechanically and/or chemically into fibrous particles, small pieces or powders and then, with or without the combination of chemical binding agent, are made into sheets

NOTE 1 If there is any other component apart from leather fibre, binding material and leather auxiliaries, then this should be declared as part of the description.

NOTE 2 The minimum amount of 50 % in weight of dry leather is needed to use the term leather fibre board."

The British Standards “Glossary of Leather terms”

If you are a marketer and are concerned about claims about your leather furniture products then contact the CAP Copy Advice team for an expert ‘steer’ on how to stick to the rules.

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