Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Three Facebook posts by The Speakmans, life coaches who offered motivational workshops, seen in July 2018, promoted the “Upgrade Your Life with The Speakmans” workshop:
a. Text in the first post featured a testimonial from a workshop attendee which stated, “If you can, attend one of The Speakmans workshops. I went recently and its changed my life. A girl was cured of a phobia of spiders on stage in 10mins, another lady of PTSD and my lifelong emetophobia was cured. I feel so different and would definitely attend another 1”.
b. Text in the second post featured a testimonial from a workshop attendee which stated, “I went to a workshop in Jan. I have bipolar, GAD, BPD … all diagnosed for years. Made more progress in 1 day with the amazing @thespeakmans than the previous 5 years, when I had all kinds of therapy and courses. Highly recommend! Booked again for Oct!”.
c. Text in third post stated, “Here’s a little insight into our recent #UpgradeYourLife workshop covering anxiety, phobias, fear, OCD, PTSD, panic attacks, motivation, confidence happiness, positivity and more. For more details email [email protected] …. Emma (@xxx on Twitter): “I went to a workshop in Jan. I have bipolar, GAP BPD, OCD, all diagnosed for many years. Made more progress in 1 day with the amazing @thespeakmans than the previous 5 years, when I had all kinds of therapy & courses”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the claims to treat the listed health and medical conditions in ads (a), (b) and (c) were misleading and could be substantiated; and
2. the ads discouraged essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.
Response
1. The Speakmans said that the ads did not offer to treat health or medical conditions. They said that the ads promoted a motivational workshop and featured verbatim testimonials from previous attendees of the workshops. They argued that reposting a customer’s social media post should not be viewed as making claims about treating health or medical conditions. They highlighted that the posts only contained an email address to obtain further information rather than any means to make a purchase.
The Speakmans said that they informed enquirers that their workshops were not therapy sessions but positive motivational workshops. They confirmed that they had removed all three posts on receipt of the complaint.
2. The Speakmans said that they did not discourage anyone from taking essential treatment for conditions which medical supervision should be sought. They said that they always advised attendees suffering with any form of mental health issues to speak to their GP or a medical health professional. They said that a view should not be taken on whether the workshops discouraged essential treatment without attending a workshop. They provided further positive testimonials from previous workshop attendees.
The Speakmans said that everyone who attended was informed that the workshops were not therapy sessions, but motivational workshops designed to improve mental health so that attendees would hopefully think and feel happier and more enlightened.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA noted that ads (a), (b) and (c) featured testimonials from people who had attended The Speakmans workshops. Such as “A girl was cured of a phobia of spiders on stage in 10mins, another lady of PTSD and my lifelong emetophobia was cured”, “I have bipolar, GAD, BPD … all diagnosed for years. Made more progress in 1 day with the amazing @thespeakmans than the previous 5 years”, “I have bipolar, GAP BPD, OCD, all diagnosed for many years. Made more progress in 1 day with the amazing”. Ad (c) also included a claim about the topics covered in the workshops, “Here’s a little insight into our recent #UpgradeYourLife workshop covering anxiety, phobias, fear, OCD, PTSD, panic attacks, motivation, confidence happiness, positivity and more”. While the ads made no explicit claims about treatment of the listed conditions, we considered that the ads suggested that the Speakmans workshops could provide effective treatment for phobias, anxiety, panic attacks, emetophobia, and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
We considered that such claims needed to be supported by evidence, including trials of the treatments conducted on people, which demonstrated their efficacy. Because The Speakmans had supplied no such evidence, we concluded that the claims had
not been substantiated and were misleading.
On that point, ads (a), (b) and (c) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
(Misleading advertising),
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) and
3.47
3.47
Claims that are likely to be interpreted as factual and appear in a testimonial must not mislead or be likely to mislead the consumer.
(Endorsements and testimonials) and
12.1
12.1
Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.
Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA, VMD or under the auspices of the EMA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.
(Medicine, medical devices, health-related products and
beauty products).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketers must not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. For example, they must not offer specific advice on, diagnosis or treatment for such conditions unless that advice, diagnosis or treatment was conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified medical professional.
We noted that ads (a), (b) and (c) included references to anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We considered that those were conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. As stated above, we considered that consumers would interpret the ads to mean that The Speakmans offered specific advice or treatment for those conditions.
Because The Speakmans had not supplied evidence that showed that their workshops were conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified medical professional, we concluded that the ad discouraged essential treatment for conditions which medical supervision should be sought and therefore the ad breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule
12.2
12.2
Marketers must not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. For example, they must not offer specific advice on, diagnosis of or treatment for such conditions unless that advice, diagnosis or treatment is conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional. Accurate and responsible general information about such conditions may, however, be offered (see rule 12.11).
Health professionals will be deemed suitably qualified only if they can provide suitable credentials, for example, evidence of: relevant professional expertise or qualifications; systems for regular review of members' skills and competencies and suitable professional indemnity insurance covering all services provided; accreditation by a professional or regulatory body that has systems for dealing with complaints and taking disciplinary action and has registration based on minimum standards for training and qualifications.
(Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told The Speakmans not to state or imply that they could treat health or medical conditions including phobias, anxiety, panic attacks, emetophobia, and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), unless they held adequate evidence. We also told The Speakmans to ensure their ads did not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
