Ad description
A TV ad for a Flash duster, seen on 9 June 2024, featured the product snaking between objects, cleaning around them. A voice-over stated, “Trap lock that dastardly dust wherever it lurks, without moving objects around”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the depiction of the duster snaking between objects, and the voice-over “[W]ithout moving objects around”, were misleading, because they believed it did not move as shown in the ad.Response
Procter & Gamble UK t/a Flash said that the product was comprised of a handle attached to two spines and a duster. The duster, which could be removed from the two spines, was made of 192,000 individual strands of fibre. This fibre easily compressed when in tight spaces and was resilient enough to regain its shape because of its airy 3D structure. The two spines were made from a blend of two polymer components, one of which provided additional flexibility to the spines. Compression tests were conducted on the two spines to confirm their ability to flatten and recover their original form.The fibre and two spines together allowed the duster to snake between objects. The degree of motion varied, depending on the weight of the objects and the positioning of the duster on the two spines, but in all cases the product removed dust, without the need to move objects.
Flash provided a video demonstration of the product intended to show that it snaked between objects in the way shown in the ad.
Clearcast said they were satisfied that the product looked and worked as shown and described in the ad. Although the spines were solid, rather than jointed, their malleability afforded them the ability to snake in the way depicted in the ad. They therefore believed the ad provided an accurate representation of the results the duster could achieve.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA considered viewers were likely to interpret from the ad that the duster could snake between objects in the way shown without the need to move them, due to the product cleaning closely around items.In the video demonstration Flash provided, the duster was used to clean between a series of objects and was directly compared to the clip in the ad where it was used to complete the same task. We considered that there was no material difference between the depiction of the duster in the ad compared to the demonstration of the product provided by Flash. We therefore concluded that the ad did not exaggerate the capability of the product.
We investigated the ad under the BCAP Code rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Substantiation) and 3.12 (Exaggeration), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
