ASA Adjudication on Lelli Kelly SpA

Ad

A TV ad for children's shoes showed that they came with a make-up set. Three little girls were shown wearing the shoes and playing. A cat-shaped make-up set, the Magic Kitten, was featured and was opened to show make-up inside. An animated cat used the brush to apply make-up to the girls' cheeks. The voice-over stated "With Lelli Kelly shoes you get 'Magic Kitten', your make-up pet. She has lots of make-up, all glittery and in great colours. And the brush is like a magic wand!" There were more shots of the shoes and the voice-over concluded "Get Lelli Kelly shoes - the only ones with 'Magic Kitten', your little friend!"

Issue

The complainant, who purchased the shoes and received the make-up kit, objected that the ad was misleading because it implied that the make-up kit included a variety of make-up, but it included lip gloss only.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Lelli Kelly SpA (Lelli Kelly) provided their response through Clearcast.

Clearcast said the main item being promoted in the ad was the shoes decorated with glitter and flowers, intended to appeal to children. They said the cat make-up set was included as an added bonus, to appeal to children aged 7 or 8 years old, like the children featured in the ad.  They said they did not think consumers would want to encourage children of that age to be using heavy adult-type make-up and would therefore not expect to receive a full make-up set.  They said the set was shown in the childs hand, and to scale, in several shots, so viewers could see it was quite small.  They pointed out the case was shown open and said the viewer was given a brief glimpse of what was inside.  They stated that the "make-up" inside the case consisted of a range of four similarly-coloured, pastel, glittery gels and a brush.  They stated the gel could be used on the lips, face or any part of the body and was child-friendly and easily removable.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the main focus of the ad was the shoes, rather than the make-up set.  We acknowledged the ad stated "She has lots of make-up, all glittery and in great colours", but noted the inside of the case was briefly shown and that the make-up inside appeared to consist of different shades of glittery red gel and considered this showed the type of make-up consumers could expect to receive.  We noted the make-up was applied all over the girls faces by an animated cat, but that the girls were not pictured with a full face of noticeably heavy make-up.  We considered the make-up in the set could be applied all over the girls faces, and not just their lips.  We considered that the shoes and make-up were aimed at young girls and would be purchased by adults who would not expect the case to contain a full make-up set containing a variety of different make-up, such as lip gloss, eye shadow, blusher or eye liner, but rather a basic, child-friendly make-up set for playing and dressing up.

Because the make-up case and its contents were shown on screen, and because we did not consider that most adults who purchased the make-up set would expect it to contain an extensive range of different make-up types, we concluded the ad was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.2 (Evidence), but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)