ASA Adjudication on John Mills Ltd

Ad

A teleshopping presentation on the JML Beauty channel, for Freeze 24/7 Instant Targeted Wrinkle Treatment, contained testimonials from an entertainment reporter, consumers and a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon called Dr Frank Ryan. At certain points during the presentation, on-screen text stated "Visible results are temporary". The entertainment reporter said " ... Now a few minutes ago I applied Freeze 24/7 around this part of my eye ... you wake up 40, you leave the house 30 ... it literally transforms your face instantly ... And this is all without an injection. I tried that once ... I tried botox ... I never want to go through that again, and you won't have to either, which is great news for millions of you ...". The Beverly Hills surgeon said " ... I particularly love this product because again being in the middle of Beverly Hills with a largely entertainment industry based clientele, they want instant gratification ... We tell people 'You use this cream for two or three months you may see some differences'; this particular product it's a matter of minutes and you can see instant results ... Now the down side of botox, extremely expensive, it's an injectable, it can be bruising etcetera, the beauty of a topical like Freeze 24/7 - it works in minutes, it's a fraction of the cost ...". Consumers said " ... It just feels like everything is just tightened up, you know it's like I've had this quick facelift ... Using the Freeze 24/7 has done the same thing for me that some women get by having eye lifts, but I don't have any surgery lines and I haven't gone through the surgery ... It's nice that this is a product that you don't have to inject needles into your forehead, it's just a little cream ... I just feel like it kind of gives me a facelift ...". A voiceover stated " ... US Weekly calls it 'the botox alternative that can get you looking like the stars do for the Emmys' ... For similar results you could pay thousands of pounds for plastic surgery and you could pay hundreds of pounds for anti-wrinkle injections, micro-dermabrasion, laser treatments, chemical peels and other costly, invasive, painful procedures ...".

Issue

1. One viewer challenged whether the claims that Freeze 24/7 could have a similar effect to plastic surgery were misleading and could be substantiated.

The ASA challenged whether:

2. the claims that Freeze 24/7 could have a similar effect to anti-wrinkle injections, micro-dermabrasion, laser treatments and chemical peels were misleading and could be substantiated, and

3. the testimonial from Dr Frank Ryan, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, gave the impression of professional advice and recommendation.

BCAP TV Code

Response

The broadcaster, John Mills, submitted all the substantiation documents they held for Freeze 24/7; these included four clinical trials which investigated the efficacy of the product and data on the product's safety and ingredients.

1. John Mills felt the clinical trials demonstrated that the product's immediate effect was similar to that produced by cosmetic surgery.  Although they believed it ought to be obvious to viewers that, as with all topical applications, the results were only temporary and a long lasting effect was achieved only with repeated applications, they said they would make that clear in on-screen text in future.

2. & 3. John Mills believed the evidence they had submitted answered the ASA challenges.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted John Mills were planning to make clear the temporary nature of the product's results in future, but on-screen text already stated "Visible results are temporary" at certain points during the presentation.  However, despite that text, we considered the claims "you wake up 40, you leave the house 30"; "you know it's like I've had this quick facelift"; "Using the Freeze 24/7 has done the same thing for me that some women get by having eye lifts, but I don't have any surgery lines and I haven't gone through the surgery"; "I just feel like it kind of gives me a facelift"; and "For similar results you could pay thousands of pounds for plastic surgery" implied that Freeze 24/7 could have an equivalent or similar effect to plastic surgery.  Although we were satisfied from one of the clinical trials John Mills submitted that the product did temporarily reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, we considered we had not seen evidence to show that the product could produce results similar or equivalent to the effects of plastic surgery.  We noted John Mills' comment that the results were temporary but considered that not even the immediate effect could be said to be similar to cosmetic surgery.  We concluded that those claims were unproven and misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.2 (Implications) and 5.4.6 (Comparative advertising).

2. Upheld

We considered that the phrases "similar results ... you could pay hundreds of pounds for anti-wrinkle injections, micro-dermabrasion, laser treatments, chemical peels and other costly, invasive, painful procedures ..."; "it literally transforms your face instantly ... And this is all without an injection.  I tried that once ... I tried botox ... I never want to go through that again, and you won't have to either, which is great news for millions of you ..."; "Now the down side of botox, extremely expensive, it's an injectable, it can be bruising etcetera, the beauty of a topical like Freeze 24/7 - it works in minutes, it's a fraction of the cost ..."; "It's nice that this is a product that you don't have to inject needles into your forehead, it's just a little cream" and " 'the botox alternative that can get you looking like the stars do for the Emmys'" carried a significant implication that the product was an alternative to anti-wrinkle injections, micro-dermabrasion, laser treatments and chemical peels and was capable of delivering equivalent or similar results.  Because we had not seen evidence to show that, we concluded the ad could mislead on those grounds.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.2 (Implications) and 5.4.6 (Comparative advertising).

3. Upheld

We noted John Mills had not commented specifically on this point but nevertheless considered that the inclusion of a testimonial from a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, which stated "I particularly love this product ..." and suggested he thought Freeze 24/7 was preferable to other creams and also botox, breached the Code, because it gave the impression of professional advice and recommendation by a doctor or surgeon who was qualified to give such advice or recommendation.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 8.1.2(a) & (b) (Medicines, treatments, health claims and nutrition - Impressions of professional advice and support).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)