Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on rehab clinic referral companies. The ad was identified for investigation following complaints received from the Ethical Marketing Campaign for Addiction Treatment (EMCAT).
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for Serenity Addiction Centres, www.rehabclinic.org.uk, seen on 11 July 2024.
The home page contained branding and the name “Serenity Addiction Centres”. The homepage provided information about the organisation and stated, “We will beat your addiction together and give you the tools you need to achieve long-term sobriety. We have rehab clinics across the UK with rapid placements available” and “Our rehab clinics in the UK are equipped to treat all stages of addiction and all types of addiction”.
Further down the page, under the headline “Our Memberships and Accreditations” was a list of logos, including for the General Medical Council, NHS Qualified Provider, Nursing & Midwifery Council and Care Quality Commission.
The “London Drug & Alcohol Rehab Clinics” page had text which stated, “Our rehabilitation centres”. The page contained various sections, such as information about staff and facilities, which included the claim “All our rehab clinics have a team made up of […] BACP [British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy] accredited nurses”.
Further down the page, under the headline “Make an appointment at our rehab clinics in London”, there was a list of clinics. Each clinic was listed with the headline “Serenity Addiction Centres” and Serenity’s email and phone details. That page also contained a box with the headline “FREE CONSULTATION” with the company’s contact details.
Issue
The Ethical Marketing Campaign for Addiction Treatment (EMCAT), challenged whether the:
- ad falsely implied that the marketer was acting for purposes outside its business and did not make clear their commercial intent;
- use of organisations’ names and logos on the home page suggested an association with those public bodies that Serenity Addiction Centres did not have; and
- claim “BACP accredited nurses” on the “London Drug & Alcohol Rehab Clinics” page was misleading.
Response
1., 2. & 3. Serenity Rehabilitation Ltd t/a Serenity Addiction Centres said that they owned a clinic in Cyprus and had a variety of healthcare professionals working for them, which included subcontracted staff.
They said that in the last two years, the website had not been fully functioning and did not appear prominently in Google searches. They said that they had also not made a referral to a rehabilitation centre in the past two years and had only organised a few home detoxes.
They further said that they had made some changes to their website, and were in the process of selling the website, and they understood the buyers intended to make additional changes, following the complaint.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ad had contained numerous references to “we” and “our” in relation to the listed rehabilitation centres and services. For example, the homepage stated “We will beat your addiction together and give you the tools you need to achieve long-term sobriety. We have rehab clinics across the UK with rapid placements available” and “Our rehab clinics in the UK are equipped to treat all stages of addiction and all types of addiction”. It further made multiple references to rehabilitation facilities, such as “Our rehabilitation centres”, “Make an appointment at our rehab clinics in London” and the name “Serenity Addiction Centres”. The ASA noted the list of clinics under the title “Make an appointment at our rehab clinics in London”, on the “London Drug & Alcohol Rehab Clinics” page, included the headline “Serenity Addiction Centres” and provided Serenity’s email and phone details for each clinic. We considered that consumers were likely to understand that Serenity Addiction Centres provided treatment directly at clinics that they owned or operated.
We understood however that the listed clinics were not owned or operated by Serenity Addiction Centres. Instead, they acted as a referral centre, whereby they received commission from partner clinics for the placement of individuals with those clinics.
We acknowledged that Serenity Addiction Centres had made changes to their website, following the complaint, which included removing several claims that implied ownership or treatment facilities and the list of clinics on the “London Drug & Alcohol Rehab Clinics” page. However, the ad did not make clear, either in its original form or following the changes, that they were principally a referral company that received commission for facilitating placements with partner rehabilitation facilities. Instead it suggested that they provided treatments directly at clinics that they owned or operated. We concluded that the ad implied that Serenity Rehabilitation were acting for purposes outside their business and did not make clear their commercial intent. The ad therefore breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 2.3 (Recognition of Marketing Communications).
2. & 3. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not falsely claim that the marketer, or other entity referred to in the marketing communication, was a signatory to a code of conduct. The Code further stated that marketing communications must not claim that the marketer has been approved, endorsed or authorised by any public or other body if it has not or without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation.
We considered that the heading “Our Memberships and Accreditations” on the homepage, followed by the logos for the General Medical Council, NHS Qualified Provider, Nursing & Midwifery Council and Care Quality Commission, were likely to be understood as claims that Serenity Addiction Centres was regulated or approved by those organisations. However, we understood that was not the case and that Serenity Addiction Centres’ nurses were not BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) members as claimed.
We acknowledged that Serenity Addiction Centres had amended the ad, and had removed the “Memberships and Accreditations” section and reference to the BACP accreditation for their nurses. Nevertheless, for the reasons given, we concluded that the ad as it originally appeared breached the Code.
On those points, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.50 and 3.51 (Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Serenity Rehabilitation Ltd t/a Serenity Addiction Centres to ensure their advertising did not falsely imply they were acting for purposes outside their business, not to imply that they provided treatment directly at clinics that they owned or operated if they did not, and to make clear that they were a referral company that received commission for their service. They also must not claim that they had been approved or authorised by any public or other body if that was not the case.
