Background
Summary of council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Ads seen on Thérapie Medical UK’s website and Instagram between March 2024 and May 2024:
(a) A paid-for Instagram story ad, seen on 26 March 2024 stated, “Spring Mega SALE now on!” and “Up to 70% OFF Laser Hair Removal”.
(b) A page on the advertiser’s website, seen in May 2024 stated, “UP TO 70% OFF LASER HAIR REMOVAL SUMMER SAVINGS”. The page contained a number of products with a “was” price and a current price.
Issue
Laser Clinics UK challenged whether:
1. the claim “Up to 70% off” in ads (a) and (b) was misleading as they understood that only a limited number of treatments were available with the discount of 70% off; and
2. the “was” prices used in ad (b) were misleading and capable of substantiation as they understood that the treatments had never been sold at the higher price.
Response
1. Valterous Ltd t/a Thérapie Medical UK said the “Up to 70% off” claim in ads (a) and (b) was intended to convey that various treatments were available at discounts ranging up to 70%. They used the phrase “up to” to ensure transparency to their customers, indicating that while some treatments were discounted by 70%, others were offered at different discounts, which was reflected on their website with the “was” and “now” pricing. They appreciated the CAP guidance stated that at least 10% of discounted services or items should be available at the “up to” price and they would take immediate action to align their advertising practices accordingly.
2. They said the “was” prices used in ad (b) reflected the recommended retail price (RRP) provided by each of their suppliers. The RRPs represented the standard pricing for the treatments within the market and they consistently used these figures to ensure transparency and alignment with industry norms. Due to the nature of their pricing strategy being collaboratively developed with their suppliers, they were unable to share historical pricing data, which they considered to be commercially sensitive. But they said that details of their pricing policies and practices could be found in the terms and conditions section of their website.
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld
In relation to ads (a) and (b), the ASA considered that consumers were likely to understand from the claim “UP TO 70% OFF” that a number of treatments available for purchase on the Thérapie Medical UK website would be discounted, and that a significant proportion of those items would be discounted by 70%. We considered they would expect that treatments which were discounted, including those discounted by 70%, would have been distributed across the full range of treatment prices. However, we did not receive data to demonstrate that this was the case.
Because we considered consumers were likely to expect that a significant proportion of treatments, distributed across the range, would be discounted at the claimed maximum, and that was not the case, we concluded that the claim “UP TO 70% OFF” in ads (a) and (b) had not been substantiated and was likely to be misleading.
We acknowledged that Thérapie Medical UK intended the “was” prices in ad (b) to be RRPs. However, we considered that consumers were likely to understand the “was” prices to refer to the prices at which the treatments were usually sold by Thérapie Medical UK, rather than as RRPs. They would therefore expect the discount to represent a genuine saving against those usual selling prices. We did not receive any pricing history for the treatments from Thérapie Medical UK. We had, however, seen historical information which showed that between November 2023 and April 2024, the “discounted” pricing had never increased to the price that was stated to be the “was” or “full” price.
Because Thérapie Medical UK had not provided any data to verify that the “was” prices were a genuine representation of the price at which the treatments were usually sold at the time the ad appeared, we concluded that the savings claims in ad (b) were misleading.
On those points, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.17 and 3.22 (Prices).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Valterous Ltd t/a Thérapie Medical UK to ensure their future savings claims did not mislead and that they could demonstrate that the “was” prices represented usual selling prices. They should also only state “up to” if a significant proportion of items were reduced at the advertised maximum discount.
