Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A post on Lauren Goodger's Instagram account for @hannahd.fx, seen on 4 March 2021, featured an image showing a WhatsApp conversation with a screenshot of purported foreign exchange trading profits and a message that stated “£1730 profits in the last 2 days”. Superimposed text over the image stated “@HANNAHD.FX”. A caption under the image stated “Let me introduce you all to @hannahd.fx She is a Forex trader who sends out trades everyday which take under 5 minutes to place. Everyone who joins her team, receives a FREE Forex beginners [sic] course worth £150, to help you learn while you earn. She has been consistently profitable and has the freedom to work anywhere in the world. If you want to start 2021 right and earn a second source of income, message @hannahd.fx on Instagram to join her team and to get started”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the post was obviously identifiable as a marketing communication;
2. the claim “£1730 profits in the last 2 days” was misleading and could be substantiated; and
3. the claim “She has been consistently profitable” was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
1., 2. & 3. Person(s) unknown t/a @hannahd.fx said they would ensure that their future marketing communications did not breach the Code.
Lauren Goodger said that @hannahd.fx had sent a script and dictated the contents of the post’s caption and that she had been remunerated by them for making the post. Ms Goodger said that she would ensure her future marketing communications featured prominent identifiers such as “AD”.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such. The ASA understood that Ms Goodger was promoting @hannahd.fx’s foreign exchange trading tips service. However, we noted that the post did not feature the label “#ad”, or similar, prominent identifier. In the absence of clear and prominent identifiers, we concluded the post was not obviously identifiable as marketing communication.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 2.1 2.1 Marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such. (Recognition of marketing communications).
2. Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the claim “£1730 profits in the last 2 days” to mean that by joining @hannahd.fx’s team and completing the beginner’s course they provided, they would be able to achieve similar levels of profit from foreign exchange trading, in a similar period of time. However, because we had not seen any evidence in support of the claim, we concluded that it was misleading.
On that point, 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) and 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).
3. Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the claim “She has been consistently profitable” to mean that @hannahd.fx’s foreign exchange trading had consistently returned a profit. However, because we had not seen any evidence in support of the claim, we concluded that it was misleading.
On that point, 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) and 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).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Person(s) unknown t/a @hannahd.fx and Lauren Goodger to ensure that their ads were obviously identifiable as marketing communications - for example, by including clear and prominent identifiers - and that they did not make profitability claims for foreign exchange tips services unless they held evidence to that effect.
