Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
An ad for campaign group No More Silence, seen on 25 October 2021, in Postcode Pigeon, a local business directory, featured the headline "FDA Document: 86% of Children Who Participated In Pfizer Covid Vaccine Trial Experienced Adverse Reactions”. Text below that stated “A publicly-available FDA ‘fact sheet’ document reveals that 86% of children who participated in a Pfizer covid vaccine trial reported adverse reactions ranging from ‘mild’ to ‘serious’ … As part of the vaccine experiments, children aged 12 to 15 are being injected with mRNA sequences that take control of their cells, causing them to churn our [sic] spike proteins in their blood. Spike proteins cause vascular disease and blood clots. Even the Jonas Salk Institute conclusively identifies spike proteins as the culprit behind vascular disease and blood clots. This is all openly admitted by the FDA, but Calls It ‘Safe’ Anyway, which has published extremely disturbing reports of adverse reactions experienced by children in a Pfizer covid vaccine ‘fact sheet’ labeled [sic] 144413 … https://nomoresilence.world”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad:
1. misleadingly implied that the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was unsafe, particularly for children; and
2. was irresponsible and caused undue fear and distress.
Response
1. & 2. Person(s) unknown t/a No More Silence did not reply to the ASA's enquiries.
Postcode Pigeon did not reply to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by the lack of substantive response and apparent disregard for the Code by Person(s) unknown t/a No More Silence, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1. Upheld
We considered that the claim “86% of Children Who Participated In Pfizer Covid Vaccine Trial Experienced Adverse Reactions”, when read with claims further down the ad regarding vascular disease and blood clots, implied that serious adverse reactions to the vaccine were common, and that the vaccine was unsafe for use in children.
We understood that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “fact sheet” referred to in the ad was a document that provided information to healthcare providers administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. We noted that the fact sheet presented the results of a study on local reactions to the vaccine in children 12 to 15 years of age, and that those results showed 86% of participants had reported pain at the injection site. We noted that 85% had reported mild to moderate pain, and 1% had reported severe pain.
We had not seen any evidence that the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine caused adverse reactions, including vascular disease or blood clots, in children who participated in trials for the vaccine. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading and breached the Code.
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).
2. Upheld
We considered that the claims “86% of Children Who Participated In Pfizer Covid Vaccine Trial Experienced Adverse Reactions” and the claims about vascular disease and blood clots in the ad would be interpreted by readers as meaning that there was a high chance children would develop those or other adverse conditions if they had the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. We considered that the claim could cause fear and distress to those reading the ad, particularly because of the seriousness of the conditions described.
As outlined in point 1 above, the fact sheet referenced in the ad showed that the majority of the children who participated in the study experienced mild to moderate pain at the site of the injection. However, we noted that the fact sheet did not show that severe reactions to the vaccine, such as vascular disease or blood clots, were common. We therefore considered that the fear and distress caused by the ad was not justifiable. In addition, given the risk that parents and children could be discouraged from vaccination based on reading the ad’s claims, resulting in less protection for them and for the population more widely from COVID-19, we also considered that the ad was irresponsible. For those reasons, we concluded the ad breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 1.3 Marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society. (Social responsibility) and 4.2 4.2 Marketing communications must not cause fear or distress without justifiable reason; if it can be justified, the fear or distress should not be excessive. Marketers must not use a shocking claim or image merely to attract attention. (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told No More Silence to ensure that their future ads did not misleadingly state or imply that the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was unsafe for children or misrepresent study findings. We also told No More Silence and Postcode Pigeon to ensure that their future marketing communications did not cause fear or distress without justifiable reason. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.
