Ad description
A post for Menar Jimmy Georgiou, on the Facebook page titled “UK AESTHETICS & BEAUTY MODELS WANTED”, was seen on 4 September 2022. The post stated, “Models wanted for the following treatments … Botox … B12 Injections”.
Issue
The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) challenged whether the ad breached the code because it advertised prescription-only medicines (POMs) to the public.Response
Menar Jimmy Georgiou did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Menar Jimmy Georgiou’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquires and told them to do so in future.
The CAP Code stated that POMs and prescription-only medical treatments may not be advertised to the public.
Botox and B12 injections were POMs. The ad stated, “Models wanted for the following treatments … Botox … B12 Injections” and was seen on the Facebook group “UK AESTHETICS & BEAUTY MODELS WANTED” which was accessible to the public. We therefore considered that the post advertised POMs to the general public and concluded that it breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay), and 12.12 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Menar Jimmy Georgiou not to advertise prescription-only medicines to the public in future. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
