ASA Adjudication on HDC Hair Design Clinic

HDC Hair Design Clinic

3–7 Queens Parade
Queens Road
Hendon
London
NW4 3AP

Date:

21 September 2011

Media:

Press general

Sector:

Health and beauty

Number of complaints:

Complaint Ref:

A11-160050

A national press ad, for laser hair therapy, viewed in May 2011. Text stated “HDC - The Art of Hair Restoration THE HDC LASER HAIR THERAPY PROGRAMME Balding, Receding or Thinning Hair Treatments, Therapy & Solutions. When using the HDC Laser Hair Therapy Programme these are some of the results you may notice: Excessive hair loss reduced. Fuller, softer thicker hair. Scalp irritations relieved. Greater hair strength and elasticity. Improved hair growth. Here at HDC we use a combination of the latest powerful laser therapy devices combined with topical treatments to help stop and even reverse hair loss in many patients. It works by using low level laser therapy that increases blood flow to the scalp and follicles encouraging hair growth. The unique laser light penetrates deep in to the scalp tissue where it stimulates the blood and lymph circulation at the hair roots causing hair to grow thicker, fuller and healthier”.

Issue

1. The complainant challenged whether the claim “It works by using low level laser therapy that increases blood flow to the scalp and follicles encouraging hair growth. The unique laser light penetrates deep in to the scalp tissue where it stimulates the blood and lymph circulation at the hair roots causing hair to grow thicker, fuller and healthier” was misleading and could be substantiated.

2. The ASA challenged whether the claims “When using the HDC Laser Hair Therapy Programme these are some of the results you may notice: Excessive hair loss reduced. Fuller, softer thicker hair. Scalp irritations relieved. Greater hair strength and elasticity. Improved hair growth” were misleading and could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

12.112.233.13.113.7

Response

HDC Hair Design Clinic (HDC) stated that they did not intend for the ad to mislead. They believed that the Laser Treatment had been cleared by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department. They provided the FDA report and stated that it showed that after 16 weeks of treatment, 88% of the subjects experienced an increase in hair count and that after 26 weeks of treatment, 95% of the subjects experienced significant increases in hair count. They also stated that most subjects reported improvement in their hair condition which included a reduction in shedding and improved fullness and thickness of their hair. However, they did not provide the full clinical trials upon which the report was based.

HDC also referred the ASA to several other summaries of the efficacy of the product. However, they did not provide the ASA with the full clinical trials upon which these summaries were based.

HDC further explained that prior to commencing the treatment all customers were given a consultation. They explained that during the consultation, customers were told that the results were not guaranteed.

Assessment

1. & 2. Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that HDC had provided reports on the efficacy of the product. However, we were concerned that they had not provided the ASA with the specific clinical evidence upon which those reports were based. Since we had not seen robust documentary evidence to substantiate the claims made in the ad, we concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.11 (Exaggeration), 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products) and 12.23 (Hair and Scalp)

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told HDC to ensure that they held adequate substation to support all claims in future.

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