Ad description
A banner ad that appeared on a Polish language website, www.wp.pl, for a British food supplements retailer, Healthways Distribution. It included text in Polish that stated, “Taka zmiana w zaledwie 2 tygodnie! Nie wierzysz? Dowiedz sie jak on to zrobil". The ad also showed before and after pictures of a man’s body.
Issue
The complainant, who felt that the text which translated as “Such a change in just two weeks! … Find out how he did it” and images implied that the change shown could be achieved in that time, challenged whether this was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Healthways Distribution Ltd t/a mens-strong did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by mens-strong’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 we told them to do so in future.
We noted that the claim “Such a change in just two weeks!” along with the before and after pictures suggested that the marketed product could lead to weight-loss and the changes shown in the pictures. However, because we had not seen evidence showing that this was the case, we concluded that the claim along with the before and after pictures in the ad had not been substantiated and were 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 13.1 13.1 A weight-reduction regime in which the intake of energy is lower than its output is the most common self-treatment for achieving weight reduction. Any claim made for the effectiveness or action of a weight-reduction method or product must be backed, if applicable, by rigorous trials on people; testimonials that are not supported by trials do not constitute substantiation. (Weight control and slimming).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told mens-strong not to make claims relating to their products unless they were supported by robust evidence relating to trials on people and otherwise complied with the Code.
