Ad description
An online banner ad, linked to the website www.lifestylealerts.co.uk, which promoted the anti-ageing skincare products Radialabs and DermaLift-SP, was headlined "Botox Docs Hate Her" and included a photograph labelled "BEFORE" which showed a blonde woman with noticeable signs of facial ageing, and a photograph labelled "AFTER" which showed a blonde woman with no noticeable signs of facial ageing.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the 'before' and 'after' images in the ad were misleading because:
1. she believed the photographs showed two different women; and
2. she did not believe the photographs provided an accurate representation of the efficacy of the products.
Response
Lifestylealerts.co.uk did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld.
The ASA was concerned by Lifestylealerts.co.uk's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
We noted that we had not seen any evidence that the before and after photos were genuine and accurately represented the efficacy of the products and therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) and 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance Team.
