ASA Adjudication on C & J Clark International Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for Clarks Zoomz YoToY children's shoes, showed a cartoon of a boy quickly hiding a toy car under the in-sole of his shoe.

Issue

Seven viewers, who had bought the shoes for their children, found that the toy car had to be taken apart and parts placed in both shoes, that the process took longer than shown and that, for some children, adult help was needed to dismantle the toy. They challenged whether the ad gave a misleading impression of the qualities of the product, especially to children.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Clarks explained that the Zoomz car in the YoToY range was designed to be separated in half; one half was inserted under the in-sole of each shoe. They believed the ad accurately represented that; the character was shown placing only one half of the car into one shoe, whilst the other half was shown already inserted in the other shoe. Clarks sent a still from the TV ad in support.

They said the Zoomz car targeted children aged five to seven years. Clarks explained that they had conducted comparison tests with a competitor's product and also research with children from the target age group; feedback indicated that children aged five to seven years would be able to dismantle the car and piece it back together. They told the ASA they had no plans to use the ad again.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) said they had been careful to ensure that the ad was an accurate portrayal of how the toy worked. They said that had been difficult because the ad was animated but were satisfied with the end result. The BACC believed it was clear that the part being placed in the shoe represented the front half of the car. They conceded that, because of the quick scene change, it was not perhaps clear that the other half of the car was in the other shoe. The BACC told us they were nevertheless satisfied that the visual portrayal of the toy was accurate. They said Clarks had assured them that the toy was designed for, and could be operated by, five to seven year olds and that research had been carried out to support that.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the comments submitted by Clarks and the BACC. We considered the still from the TV ad appeared to show one half of the car being inserted under the in-sole of one shoe; the tip of the other half of the car was just visible inside the second shoe.

We considered, however, that the pace of the ad was fast and there was no suggestion that the car had been dismantled into two parts. We therefore considered that it was unlikely to be apparent to viewers that only one half of the car was being inserted into the shoe. We also considered that viewers were unlikely to notice the second shoe with the other half of the car already inserted.

We considered that the overriding impression of the ad was that the car could be quickly placed under the in-sole of one shoe, without the need for it to be dismantled. Because we understood that that impression was inaccurate, we concluded that the ad could mislead viewers, especially children, about the qualities of the product.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.2 (Implications), 7.1.2 (Children - Unrealistic expectations) and 7.1.3 (Children - Product characteristics).

Action

We noted Clarks had no plans to use the ad again but advised them that future, similar ads should ensure that the qualities of products were accurately depicted.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)