ASA Adjudication on Guthy-Renker (UK) Ltd

Ad

A teleshopping infomercial on Guthy-Renker's TV Shop channel, for the Meaningful Beauty skin-care line, showed images of Cindy Crawford applying the product to her face. The female presenter, Karyn Bryant, asked "How has Cindy Crawford, the world's most famous supermodel, managed to stay so young looking for so long?" and "Cindy has barely aged a day in over a decade. How does she do it?". She said "The secret to Cindy's flawless skin is French skincare expert Jean-Louis Sebagh" and explained "His secret lies in a remote region in the South of France. In a history-making discovery, scientists have discovered a rare melon with a powerful antioxidant that seems to prevent the visible signs of ageing". The ad showed photographs of two melons, one labelled "ordinary melon" and the other "rare melon". The melons were shown at 7 and 12 days and the "ordinary melon" was shown to rot and decay while the "rare melon" appeared to stay the same. The voice-over said the rare melon seemed "youthful and preserved" and that the products derived from the enzymes these melons produced would "help to shield your skin from the further signs of ageing".

Before and after photographs showed the results of 30-days application of the product, including the effect on lines and wrinkles, skin tone, skin pores and redness.

Karyn Bryant interviewed Cindy Crawford where she discussed her skin-care line and said that Meaningful Beauty was the only product she used. In another interview, Jean-Louis Sebagh explained that Cindy Crawford had been coming to him since she was 29 and said that she looked the same then as she did now, at 41.

Issue

1. Two viewers objected that the ad was misleading because it implied the products were responsible for the youthful appearance of Cindy Crawford's skin.

The ASA challenged whether:

2. the before and after shots together with the text "30 day results" misleadingly implied the product had a cumulative effect;

3. the advertiser could substantiate the implication that the melon enzyme/antioxidant ingredient was responsible for reducing the appearance of lines and wrinkles and protecting the skin against premature ageing.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Guthy-Renker UK Ltd (Guthy-Renker) said the ad had been withdrawn from broadcast and would not be shown again until the ASA had reached a decision on the case.

1. Guthy-Renker disputed that the ad suggested that Meaningful Beauty products were solely responsible for Cindy Crawford's youthful appearance and stated it was clear that it was just one of the skincare treatments attributed to Dr Sebagh that she had used in the last fourteen years.  They said no viewer would  believe  her youthful appearance was not attributable, in part, to natural beauty and said  whether or not Cindy Crawford had used other skincare treatments did not alter the veracity of her representation of the product and her belief that it played a significant role in her youthful appearance.  

2. Guthy-Renker believed the ad did not suggest the product had a cumulative effect and that consumers would not interpret it in that way.  They believed viewers would understand that if treatment stopped, the face would return to its previous state.  They stated that the product did not have an immediate effect on fine lines, wrinkles, skin-tone and texture but that they believed, with consistent application, a person would experience an improvement in such facial characteristics over time.   They stated that, because these results were likely and that Dr. Sebagh could attest to this, clinical trials would be a waste of money and resources.

3. Guthy-Renker said it was widely recognised that premature ageing and the appearance of lines and wrinkles were caused by free radical damage to the skin from the sun's UV rays.  They said it had been established by the US Patent and Trademark Office and through studies published in peer-reviewed journals that the antioxidant melon enzyme SOD, contained in the Meaningful Beauty range diminished the free radical damage caused by the UV rays.  They reasoned that it followed that the antioxidant melon enzyme, if properly applied, would also diminish the appearance of wrinkles and premature ageing.   They stated that clinical trials carried out in Italy, Croatia and Japan demonstrated that the SOD enzyme could be used to treat and protect skin which had been damaged by 'free radicals' and 'burns'.  They said that the Meaningful Beauty range also had a recognised sun protection factor and a moisturiser, the topical application of which reduced the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA considered that most viewers would infer from the ad that Cindy Crawford was the 'face of' Meaningful Beauty and her endorsement helped to sell the product.  We concluded that most viewers would not infer that Meaningful Beauty was solely responsible for Cindy Crawford's youthful appearance and that the ad was unlikely to mislead on these grounds.

On this point, we investigated under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.2 (Implications), 5.2.3 (Qualifications) and 5.4.9 (Testimonials) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We considered that viewers would infer from the text "30 day results" and the accompanying before and after photographs, that the Meaningful Beauty products would have an increased and cumulative effect on lines and wrinkles during that period.  In the absence of evidence to show that effects after 30 days' application of the product differed from those after one application, we concluded that the ad was misleading.  

3. Upheld

We considered that the claim "[Jean-Louis Sebagh's] secret lies in a remote region in the South of France ... scientists have discovered a rare melon with a powerful antioxidant that seems to prevent the visible signs of ageing" coupled with the demonstration of the decaying melon and claims such as "using this powerful antioxidant melon Jean-Louis Sebagh has developed powerful serums. These will help shield your skin from the further signs of ageing ..." implied the skincare range contained a specific ingredient that was responsible for protecting the skin against premature ageing. We considered that the ad implied the SOD enzyme was a pioneering ingredient responsible for the effect on the skin and noted that, although Guthy-Renker had referred to tests on the enzyme mentioned in the ad, they had not provided us with clinical trials which tested the efficacy of the enzyme as it was found in the Meaningful Beauty products. We considered that the information Guthy-Renker had provided was not sufficiently robust to support the strong efficacy claims for the melon enzyme/antioxidant ingredient as it was found within the products and concluded that the ad was misleading.

On points 2 and 3, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code Rules 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3 (Misleading), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.2 (Implications), 5.2.3 (Qualifications) and 5.4.9 (Testimonials).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.  We told Guthy-Renker to make sure it held robust clinical trials on Meaningful Beauty products before making efficacy claims in the future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)