Ad description
A TV ad for Regaine For Men Extra Strength Scalp Solution, a hair loss treatment, seen on 8 May 2022, stated in a voice-over, “What is gone could be got back, have hope, grow more hair. Do something about hair loss”. Voice-over and large text stated together, “Clinically proven … Now with the Numan money back guarantee. See results in 180 days or your money back”. On-screen text stated, “*Full refund if hair loss is not stabilised/reversed in 180 days. T&Cs apply, see [website]”.
Issue
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) challenged whether the ad breached the Code by suggesting that the effects of Regaine For Men Extra Strength Scalp Solution were guaranteed.
Response
Responding on behalf of Vir Health Ltd t/a Numan as well as themselves, Clearcast said the only use of the word “guarantee” was in the context of the Numan money-back guarantee, which they said was expressly permitted by the BCAP Code.
Clearcast considered it was extremely unlikely that viewers would take the ad to mean that the effects of the product itself were being guaranteed. They said the wording “What is gone could be got back, have hope, grow more hair. Do something about hair loss” used the language of possibility (“could be got back” and “have hope”) and did not use “guarantee” language. They believed that the wording “grow more hair” and “do something about hair loss” were general call-to-action statements and did not imply effects of the product were guaranteed or promised.
They said “clinically proven” was based on the results of a study which had found increased hair growth in the majority of participants. They said the money-back guarantee applied “if hair loss is not stabilised/reversed in 180 days”. They said the phrasing of the guarantee indicated to the customer that the effects of the product were variable and that one of the potential outcomes of using the product was that it might not work.
Clearcast did not believe the ad suggested that the product was guaranteed to work for all consumers but that, if it was not effective, customers could obtain a refund.
Assessment
Upheld
The BCAP Code stated that no ad for a medicinal product may claim its effects were guaranteed. That did not prevent the offering of refunds, if the ad did not suggest that efficacy was guaranteed.
The ASA understood that Regaine For Men Extra Strength Scalp Solution, which contained the active ingredient, minoxidil (5%), was a medicine used to treat common hereditary hair loss in men aged 18-65 years.
We considered viewers would see the overall message of the ad related to a treatment for hair loss and would understand the wording “Clinically proven … Now with the Numan money back guarantee. See results in 180 days or your money back” to mean that the results of using the product were clinically proven and guaranteed. We acknowledged that the ad used some cautious wording (“What is gone could be got back, have hope”). We considered, however, that the wording that followed it (“Grow more hair. Do something about hair loss”) was more definite. When that was followed by the wording “Clinically proven … Now with the Numan money back guarantee. See results in 180 days or your money back”, we considered the overall impression was that the effects of the product were proven and guaranteed and that the guarantee related to seeing positive effects from the product in 180 days.
Because we considered, in the context of the ad, the money-back guarantee was likely to be interpreted as guaranteeing efficacy of the product, we concluded that the ad breached the Code.
The ad breached BCAP Code rule 11.23 11.23 No advertisement for a medicinal product may claim its effects are guaranteed. That does not prevent the offering of refunds, if the advertisement does not suggest that efficacy is guaranteed. (Medicines).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Vir Health Ltd t/a Numan not to refer to the money-back guarantee in a way that claimed or implied that efficacy of the product was guaranteed.
