ASA Adjudication on Best Direct (International) Ltd

Ad

Monitoring staff viewed on Best Direct an infomercial for Gymform Vibro Max, a vibrating platform on which people stood to do exercises. The voice-over stated “Vibration technology is being used more and more in exclusive gyms worldwide where people go to get fit, sculpt muscles, burn fat and lose weight and this same technology is now available to you in your own home at a price you can afford. Introducing the Gymform Vibro Max.” “The Gymform Vibro Max uses whole body vibration technology to stimulate muscles in your body up to 1800 times a minute. And the best part is, you don’t have to do anything. It’s so easy. All you do is push a button and the Gymform Vibro Max will vibrate your muscles at top speed. In just 10 minutes the Gymform Vibro Max vibrates your muscles as many times as there are steps in a one-hour run. Incredible.” A woman said “Even if you don’t feel like getting up in the morning you can just stand here and from your chest, from your stomach, from your legs I mean it’s just like this burning sensation that comes up through your legs and through your body.” Another woman said “It’s not the same old boring walking on a treadmill. I mean I really feel like I’m actually doing something. Most of the time when I go to the gym it feels like I didn’t get enough done but just being here for five minutes I already feel like I've done enough for the day.” “The Gymform Vibro Max has five exercise programmes. First there’s the strength and power conditioning programme. Next is the body burning programme. Third is the advanced aerobic and anaerobic training programme. The fourth programme is the manual mode that has 50 speed levels; each level gives you the freedom to vary the intensity of your session. Finally, the BMI [body mass index] programme is equipped with sensors which measure your body mass index and your fat loss.” “The major advantage of the Gymform Vibro Max is that it provides a low impact workout. Are you kidding me? When I run, my knees are killing me. This is a lot easier than running.” The end board of the infomercial stated the Gymform Vibro Max was available for six instalments of £99.99 plus £19.99 postage.

Issue

Monitoring staff challenged whether the Gymform Vibro Max would:

1. help people get fit, sculpt muscle, burn fat and lose weight;

2. "stimulate" muscles;

3. be as beneficial to the muscles as a one-hour run if the user stood on it for 10 minutes;

4. give the same "burn" that comes from traditional exercise;

5. be as effective as, or similar to, walking on a treadmill;

6. be more effective than, or at least as effective as, working out in the gym;

7. provide an aerobic/anaerobic workout;

8. result in fat loss;

9. provide a "low impact workout";

10. augment normal exercise.

11. Monitoring staff challenged whether the infomercial should have specified the total cost of

the goods.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. Best Direct argued that the opening voice-over was intended to remind people why they might choose to go to the gym, that vibration technology was found in more and more gyms worldwide and that, with their machine, consumers could now have that technology in their own home. They believed that, broken down into its component parts, the claim did not imply that Gymform Vibro Max could help people get fit, sculpt muscle, burn fat and lose weight.

2.  Best Direct explained that they had used the word "stimulate" in the sense of "quicken" or "speed up".  They said, nevertheless, that they would replace "stimulate" with "vibrate".

3. Best Direct argued that the claim "In just 10 minutes the Gymform Vibro Max vibrates your muscles as many times as there are steps in a one-hour run" was   clearly a statement comparing the number of vibrations with the number of steps.  They said they made no reference to either the benefit of a one-hour run or of standing on the Gymform Vibro Max for 10 minutes.

4. Best Direct said that the reference to a "burning sensation" came from a testimonial and described the sensation that that individual felt when using the product.  They said the person made no reference to traditional exercise or referred to a "burn".

5. Best Direct stated that a woman featured in the ad stated "Its not the same old boring walking on a treadmill"  They did not believe that implied that the Vibro Max was as effective as, or similar to, walking on a treadmill, simply that standing on the Vibro Max was less boring than walking on a treadmill.  They maintained that it was a statement of preference, rather than a statement of effectiveness.

6. Best Direct maintained that the second womans testimonial did not suggest that using the machine is more effective than, or at least as effective as, working out in the gym.  They maintained that that individual was simply stating that on this first occasion of using the Vibro Max for five minutes, she felt that she had done enough for the day. She compared that sensation to the feeling that most of the time she felt she did not get enough done at the gym, but she did not compare the effectiveness or the results of either experience. They believed viewers would infer no more from that than that the woman did not push herself when she exercised at the gym, whereas standing on the Vibro Max she feltshe needed to do no more than five minutes.

7. & 8. Best Direct said that the references to aerobic, anaerobic and fat burn in the infomercial came from a description of the programmes included with the Vibro Max; those included "aereobic/anaerobic" and "fat burn".  They accepted that identifying those names within the infomercial could lead viewers to believe that the Vibro Max could help you burn fat, etc. and agreed to remove any reference to the names of the different programmes within the voice-over and on-screen captions.

9. Best Direct said they did not believe tests were available that measured the impact of the Vibro Max vibrations.  They said the claim "low impact workout" was included to bring to the viewers attention that running is often regarded as high impact, whereas the action of the Vibro Max did not exert any kind of similar motion or impact on the joints. Because they did not have supportive evidence they agreed to change the claim.  

10. Best Direct maintained that the testimonial quote: "Are you kidding me? When I run, my knees are killing me. This is a lot easier than running", was clearly the opinion of a single person who had compared running versus standing on the Vibro Max.  

11. Best Direct maintained that the suggestion that the Vibro Max could be used to augment normal exercise was demonstrated in the infomercial by showing people doing stretching and bending exercises whilst standing on the Vibro Max. They said the word augment was used in the sense of supplementing or adding to.

12. Best Direct agreed to amend the Endboard of the infomercial to give the total price and include only four instalments.

Assessment

The ASA noted that the Compliance team had warned Best Direct that they were concerned about the content of the infomercial several months previously.  Although it had made some amendments, the revised infomercial still made problematic claims.

1. Upheld

We acknowledged Best Directs intended meaning.  We considered, however, that the wording and presentation of the opening voice-over was confusing and was likely to lead the viewer to infer that using the Vibro Max could help them get fit, sculpt muscle, burn fat and lose weight. In the absence of evidence to demonstrate that it could, we considered the claims misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence).

2. Upheld

We acknowledged that Best Direct had agreed to replace "stimulate" with "vibrate".  Nevertheless, because we had not seen evidence to show that the Vibro Max could actually stimulate muscles, we considered the claim was misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence).

3. Upheld

We were concerned that by including the reference to the number of steps in a one-hour run, viewers were likely to infer that standing on the Vibro Max would be as beneficial to the muscles as a one-hour run if the user stood on it for 10 minutes.  Because no evidence was provided to show that was true, we considered that claim was misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence).

4. Upheld

We considered viewers were likely to infer from the claim "from your chest, from your stomach, from your legs, I mean its just like this burning sensation that comes up through your legs and through your body", that users of the Vibro Max would experience the same "burn" that comes from traditional exercise.  In the absence of evidence to show that was true, we considered the claim was misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.4.4 (testimonials).

5. Upheld

We considered that viewers were likely to infer from the claim "its not the same old boring walking on a treadmill" that using the Vibro Max was as effective as, or similar to, walking on a treadmill.  Because we had seen no evidence to support that, we considered that the claim was misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.4.4 (testimonials).

6. Upheld

We considered that readers were likely to infer from the claim "Most of the time when I go to the gym it feels like I didnt get enough done but just being here for five minutes I already feel like I've done enough for the day", that the Vibro Max was more effective than, or at least as effective as, working out in the gym.  Because we had not seen evidence to support that, we considered that the claim was misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.4.4 (testimonials).

7 & 8. Upheld

We acknowledged Best Direct had agreed to remove any reference to the names of the different programmes from the voice-over and on-screen captions. We considered that identifying those names within the infomercial could lead viewers to believe that the Vibro Max could provide an anaerobic/aerobic workout and burn fat etc.  In the absence of evidence to show that it could, we considered the references were misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence).

9. Upheld

We noted that Best Direct did not hold evidence to show that the Vibro Max provided a "low impact workout" and therefore welcomed their assurance to remove that claim.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence).

10. Upheld

We acknowledged Best Directs explanation of their intended meaning.  We noted that the infomercial included several references to users just standing on the platform and the Vibro Max just vibrating.  In the absence of evidence to show that the Vibro Max augmented exercise, we considered the claim was misleading.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.1 (Evidence).

11. Upheld

We acknowledged Best Directs amendments.  Nevertheless we were concerned that the ad had only given the instalment price and had not also included the total price consumers would have to pay as required by the Code.

The infomercial breached CAP (broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 5.3.3 (b) (Pricing requirements).

Action

We concluded that the infomercial must not be shown again in its present form and that the product should not be advertised without adequate substantiation for the claims made for it.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)