Ad watchdog cracks down on misleading health and beauty claims
The advertising watchdog is banning growing numbers of advertisements that exaggerate the benefits of health and beauty treatments such as Botox, lip fillers and diet aids.
The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) action is part of a crackdown against beauty clinics and manufacturers of aesthetic products over how they promote themselves.
The ASA is using its enforcement powers more often in response to a surge in complaints about advertisements on social media and TV which critics say can mislead customers about the extent to which treatments, such as lasers and anti-wrinkle injections, will improve their appearance.
Many of those it is banning involve the advertising of Botox, the anti-ageing substance, and other prescription-only medicines. It is illegal to promote them to the general public under the Medicines Regulation Act 2012.
Research disclosed recently by the Guardian found that almost nine out of 10 beauty clinics were breaking the law by advertising Botox and other forms of botulinum toxin, which people use to hide wrinkles and get a smoother complexion.
The ASA’s action comes amid fears that too many operators in the booming but poorly regulated cosmetic treatments sector are endangering clients’ self-esteem and mental health by overselling how effective they will prove, leaving those who pay for them disappointed.
For example, on 26 April the ASA banned ads on Facebook for sclerotherapy – a treatment for varicose veins that is also done for aesthetic reasons – which had been placed by three clinics: Victoria Anne Beauty, Venus Beauty & Aesthetics and Chala’s Beauty Box. It did so because sclerotherapy involves using a prescription-only medicine.
An ASA spokesperson said: “We’re moving to a more proactive method
Read more on theguardian.com
