Ad description
A paid-for Facebook ad for Your Baby Club UK, an online platform offering promotions and advice for new and expectant parents, seen on 30 April 2024. The ad featured an image of various products for babies and mothers with text which stated, “Mums, have you claimed Your Baby Box worth over £50 yet?.... Free Baby Box worth over £50!”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed the image in the ad was not representative of what consumers actually received, challenged whether the ad was misleading.
Response
Fanfinders Ltd t/a Your Baby Club UK explained that the contents of their baby boxes changed regularly depending on stock. They said it was not feasible to update their marketing communications to accurately reflect what was contained in the baby box on any given week.
Your Baby Club UK also said that all their ads contained the text "Box contents subject to change, image for illustration purposes only" or "Contents may vary, and are for illustration purposes only". However, the nature of the platform meant that how the text appeared could vary based on factors such as what device they were viewed on, the ad placement and other factors also outside Your Baby Club UK’s control.They said their website was very clear on the exact contents of the box and its value. Therefore, everyone who ordered a baby box understood exactly what they were getting.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would likely understand from the ad, which included an image of various baby items, that the baby box they would receive contained the items in the image.
We considered the use of the claims “Your baby box…” and “Free baby box…”, which appeared with the accompanying image of the items and no qualifying text, implied that the items a consumer received would be no different from those presented in the ad.
We further acknowledged Your Baby Club UK’s comment that their website featured a page with the details and contents of the baby boxes. However, we understood that consumers needed to register with Your Baby Club to access this page, and we received no documentary evidence that the landing page for the ad in question contained an accurate description of the items in the baby box.
Given that the image was not an accurate representation of what was received, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.3 (Misleading advertising), and 3.7 (Substantiation).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Fanfinders Ltd t/a Your Baby Club UK to ensure future ads accurately represented what consumers received.
