Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Two in-game ads for the mobile app game Zen Word, seen in August 2024:
a. The first ad featured a person wearing blue medical scrubs. On-screen text stated, “What advice do you have for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in older adults? I recommend to all elderly individuals to avoid simple and boring games, as they offer no benefit to the brain. Instead, I would recommend playing a word game called Zen Word. Wait […] are you serious? Preventing Alzheimer’s disease by playing a word game? Yes, that’s right. This game can keep your brain constantly thinking, restoring youth and vitality. Although it’s quite challenging, it might be the most enjoyable way to prevent Alzheimer’s”.
b. The second ad featured text on a billboard that stated, “As a neurologist, I strongly advise against simple, boring games for mental engagement, especially for seniors like my 60-year-old mother. These games don’t really help the brain. Instead, try Zen Word-the world’s toughest word game. It actively stimulates the brain, making you sharper and greatly improving your memory and sleep. Your brain will thank you! And you’ll look even younger […] I recommend everyone to play Zen Word for at least 30 minutes every day”.
Issue
The complainants challenged whether:
- the medical claims in ad (a) breached the Code; and
- the claim “greatly improving your memory and sleep” in ad (b) was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Oakever Games PTE Ltd t/a Zen Word said that they took the complaint very seriously and had taken the ads down.Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that medicinal or medical claims and indications could only be made for a medicinal product that was licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMD) or under the auspices of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or for a medical device with the applicable conformity marking. In addition, the Medical Devices Regulations required that a medical device was registered with the MHRA before it was placed on the market in Great Britain.
The ASA considered that consumers would understand ad (a) to mean that playing Zen Word could prevent Alzheimer’s disease. We therefore considered that ad made a medical claim, which required that the product met the requirements for medical devices.
However, we understood that Zen Word was not registered with the MHRA, nor had we seen any evidence that the game had the applicable conformity marking. Therefore, no medical claims could be made for the product. Because the ad made such claims, we concluded that it breached the Code.
On that point, ad (a) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.10 (Legality) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
2. Upheld
Ad (b) stated, “As a neurologist, I strongly advise against simple, boring games for mental engagement […] try Zen Word-the world’s toughest word game. It actively stimulates the brain, making you sharper and greatly improving your memory and sleep […] I recommend everyone to play Zen Word for at least 30 minutes every day”.
We considered that consumers would understand the claim “greatly improving your memory and sleep” to mean that the Zen Word game was capable of improving users’ memory and sleep, if they played the game for 30 minutes daily. We further considered that the statement “As a neurologist” reinforced the impression that the app could provide a medical benefit to users. We therefore expected to see robust documentary evidence substantiating the claim that playing the Zen Word game was capable of helping people improve their memory and sleep, consisting of clinical trials conducted on people.
However, we received no evidence from the advertiser to substantiate that the app could help people with their sleep and/or memory. In the absence of such evidence, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was therefore misleading.
On that point, ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Oakever Games PTE Ltd t/a Zen Word not to make medical claims for devices that did not hold the applicable conformity marking and were not registered with the MHRA. We also told them to not make claims that their app could improve users’ memory and/or sleep unless they held adequate evidence to substantiate such claims.
