Andy Genovese vows to fight on as Brighton and Hove City Council denies its anti-stove advertising (‘Cosy Killer’) campaign is inappropriate
A council has denied it has been warned about its anti-stove advertising.
Brighton and Hove City Council was issued an ‘Advice Notice’ by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after its recent campaign that claimed stoves were a ‘Cosy Killer’.
The emotive advertising has led to a number of complaints, amid reports that owners of stoves in the city were being verbally abused due to the messaging that stoves were killing people.
One of the key claims in the campaign by the council was that particulate pollution was behind the deaths of ‘one in 20 people over the age of 30’.
The claim was overlaid on an image with the title ‘Cosy Killer’, a smoky stove and no distinction was made between all air pollution and Ecodesign stoves.
Brighton stove installer Andy Genovese, owner of Hove Wood Burners, decided to fight back against the misleading scaremongering.
He reported the council to the ASA and was pleased when it agreed to take action.
But despite the intervention by the ASA, the council denied it had been ‘warned’ by the regulator and said it would continue its anti-burning advertising with the ‘Cosy Killer’ campaign.
“We did not receive an official warning from the ASA. We received an advice notice simply saying we should include references to our primary sources of data,” Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services at Brighton & Hove City Council, told Fireplace Specialist magazine.
He added: “All the statements included in this campaign at the time of its launch were substantiated with the latest available DEFRA or Public Health England references, based on research which was already in the public domain, and which have now been added to our website.
“You would expect local authorities to base their public health messaging on the latest reliable and verifiable sources, and that is exactly what has happened in this instance. When newer data was published, our campaign was adjusted to reflect it.
“Wood burning stoves and open fires are a risk to public health, particularly in cities, and we make no apologies for highlighting this very real health risk to residents.
“We have a duty as a local authority to make people aware of this and will continue to do so.”
Department for Health statistics for 2023 show 5% of deaths of people over 30 in the Brighton and Hove region are attributable to particulate air pollution – down from 8% in 2018.
The statistic, cited by the council, is for all air pollution, not specifically stove emissions.
There has been a 72% reduction in particulate emissions in the past 35 years.
Domestic combustion is responsible for about 20% of PM2.5 particulate pollution.
Indoor wood burning is estimated to contribute 11% of the total.
Mr Genovese said it was disappointing and frustrating that the council seemed determined to ignore the evidence and advice and had suggested it would carry on with anti-stove campaigning regardless.
He said he would continue to highlight misleading facts in their anti-stove advertising and said he hadn’t ruled out legal action if authorities such as the ASA or the Local Government Ombudsman did not take stronger action of their own.
“I’m not going to stop pushing against this,” he confirmed to Fireplace Specialist.
“This is my livelihood.
“It’s absurd that the council will use a very blunt stick to harm our industry when all they needed to do was engage in a sensible conversation with us.
“I would have thought they would engage in a harm reduction programme first of all, for instance a grant for people to convert open fires into Ecodesign stoves.”
Mr Genovese said he was further shocked to find the £4,155 budget for the campaign came from an £11,710 DEFRA smoke control grant when the government itself had recently backed the continued installation of Ecodesign stoves in new homes.
He added: “The ASA said the council campaign fell foul of their denigration rules as it was doing harm to a whole industry.
“They said the complaint raised a valid point but they had decided to resolve it by providing them guidance to ensure their advertising complied with the code.
“But it sounds to me that they’re going to carry on regardless.”
The SIA said it was pleased to see its members being supported by intervention from the ASA.
A spokesperson said: “The action taken by the ASA in issuing an advice notice to the Council underscores the importance of evidence-based public messaging.
“Recent evidence from the NAEI shows that there has been a 17% reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 emissions from domestic combustion in the last 3 reporting years (2021 to 2023). There is growing recognition, both by government and in the media, that this is down to the adoption of modern stoves to replace open fires and older stove models, and increased consumer awareness on how to use and maintain their stoves and chimneys correctly.
“The SIA is keen to work with local authorities to support positive public awareness campaigns that seek to further enhance consumer best practice knowledge in this area and we are confident that this will lead to a further reduction in emissions, while ensuring that consumers can continue to choose how best to heat their home.”