Ad description
A TV ad and a product page on the website for Xootz, www.xootz.co.uk, a children’s electric scooter and go-kart retailer, seen on 30 October 2024:
a. The TV ad featured a group of children in a large indoor area playing with scooters and go-karts. A voice-over stated, “Get ready to unleash the fun with Xootz… With powerful motors and superfast drifting… with the new electric motors and speeds of up to 10 kilometres an hour, race your friends, dodge, speed up and jump.”
b. The product page for the “Elements Electric Scooter – Green” featured the text “kids will be able to dart in and out of obstacles at the local park… every journey along the pavement or around the park is super smooth”.
Issue
Wiltshire Council, who understood it was illegal to ride privately owned electric scooters in public places, challenged whether the ads were:
1. misleading; and
2. irresponsible.
Response
1. & 2.
Wilton Bradley Ltd t/a Xootz stated that the TV ad was no longer airing. They said when designing the ad, they considered the restrictions on where e-scooters could be used, and chose a private, indoor location for filming. They stated they did not plan to run the ad again and would ensure their future ads were amended to make it clear where the product could be used.Xootz stated that the claims on their website, including “dart in and out of obstacles at the local park”, were intended to be illustrative of the manoeuvrability and experience of riding the e-scooter. They acknowledged that this could imply the product could be used in public spaces. They stated they had removed the references to parks and pavements from their website and had added a disclaimer to the product description making it clear that e-scooters could only be used legally on private land.In relation to the TV ad, Clearcast stated that they were aware that there were restrictions on the use of e-scooters, but felt that the ad did not mislead or suggest e-scooters be used irresponsibly. They highlighted that the ad was set in a private warehouse-like venue and the voice-over did not refer to the outdoors. They said that, although the ad mentioned using the e-scooters for “stunts” and “racing friends”, it was conceivable that this could be done in driveways and gardens rather than public spaces.
Clearcast further stated that the Xootz e-scooters were referred to as a “range of toys” and had a top speed of up to 5 miles per hour, compared to “adult” versions that were limited to 15.5 miles per hour. They believed that, because the Xootz e-scooters had less size, weight and speed, they did not pose the same danger as larger versions. They also considered that e-scooters were fairly expensive purchases that were likely to be made by adults on behalf of their children, who were more likely to be aware of the restrictions surrounding e-scooters.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The Department for Transport’s guidance (2020) on powered transporters, an umbrella term that included electric scooters, stated that electric scooters (e-scooters) could only be used on private land, to which the general public did not have access, with the permission of the landowner. Although there were currently some very limited exceptions of use in public areas that related to rental (as opposed to privately owned) e-scooters only, the ASA understood that the use of e-scooters outside of those circumstances was illegal. We also understood that the guidance did not make a distinction between e-scooters for adults or children.
We considered that, despite the increasing popularity of e-scooters, consumers would not necessarily be aware of the legality of using them. In relation to ad (a), we considered that consumers would understand from the ad that there were no restrictions on how the e-scooters could be used. The ad focused on the speed and manoeuvrability of the scooters and showed them being used in a large area. Whilst we acknowledged Clearcast’s view that e-scooters could be used on driveways or in gardens, we considered that many consumers (especially those living in urban areas) would not have access to private areas in which to use the scooters and would assume they could be used in any open space. It was therefore important, to avoid misleading consumers by omitting material information – that the ad made clear that e-scooters could only be used legally on private land. In the absence of any qualifications to that effect, we concluded the ad was misleading.In relation to ad (b), we considered that the product description of the e-scooter, including the claim “every journey along the pavement or around the park is super smooth”, suggested e-scooters could be legitimately used in public spaces in the UK. As above, we understood that this was not the case, and that the use of e-scooters in the manner described in the ad was illegal. We therefore concluded the ad was misleading.
Ad (a) breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising) and 3.10 (Qualification).Ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.9 (Qualification).
2. Upheld
As above, we understood that the use of e-scooters in public places, other than in limited circumstances, was illegal. We considered the impression from ad (a) was that e-scooters could be used in any large, open space and that there were no restrictions on their use. Similarly, we considered that the manner in which ad (b) described privately owned e-scooters suggested that they could be used in public spaces in the UK and that consumers would understand it was legal to use them in those ways. Because the overall impression from both ads was that it was legal to use e-scooters in places other than on private land when that was not the case, we concluded the ads were socially irresponsible.
Ad (a) breached BCAP Code rule 1.2 (Social responsibility).
Ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Wilton Bradley Ltd t/a Xootz to ensure future ads did not mislead and were not socially irresponsible by omitting that e-scooters could not be used legally in public places in the UK. We also told them to ensure their ads made clear that the use of e-scooters was currently permitted only on private land.
