ASA Non-broadcast Adjudication: West 1 Casting Ltd

Complaint

Objection to a leaflet, for a talent agency, that stated " ... We would like to introduce West 1 Promotions, for nearly a decade we have been one of the U.K.'s Leading Management Companies for Modelling, Fashion, Catwalk, Catalogue, Film, Television, Stage Acting, Dance and Promotional Work for all ages ... Our role as an independent promotions company is to find new faces for Model Agencies in the U.K. ... A few of the recent credits our agencies have are as follows: - Film/T.V.: - Eastenders, The Bill, The Broken Man, Midsomer Murders, Ruth Rendell, Bond 19 (The World is not Enough), Love Honour & Obey, Happy Birthday Shakespeare ...". The complainant challenged whether:

1. the ad misleadingly implied West 1 Promotions' agencies had recently found work for their clients on the films and TV programmes listed;

2. they were one of the UK's leading management companies;

3. they were an independent promotions company and

4. they found new faces for UK model agencies.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Adjudication

1. Complaint upheld

West 1 Promotions said their agencies dealt with modelling, fashion, catalogue, film, TV, stage acting, dance and promotional work. They said their agencies' clients and models had worked or were working on some of the productions quoted in the leaflet.

The ASA considered that the leaflet implied West 1 Promotions' agencies had recently found work for their clients on the films and TV programmes listed. We considered that West 1 Promotions had not proved that their agencies had recently found work for their clients on the productions quoted in the leaflet. We concluded that the leaflet was misleading. We told West 1 Promotions not to refer to their agencies' credits in future advertising unless they had documentary evidence to prove that their agencies' clients had worked on the productions listed.

The leaflet breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

2. Complaint upheld

West 1 Promotions said their managers had been in the entertainment business for over 15 years and had been working alongside model and casting agencies for over a decade. They said, however, they would amend their advertising to state "We believe we are one of the UK's leading management companies".

We considered that, to substantiate that they were one of the UK's leading management companies, West 1 Promotions needed to provide evidence of highest turnover or greatest market share; we noted they had not done that. We considered that adding the words "We believe" did not negate West 1 Promotions' obligation to provide evidence. We concluded that West 1 Promotions had not substantiated that they were one of the UK's leading management companies and told them not to repeat the claim in future advertising.

The leaflet breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

We noted West 1 Promotions had not, despite our request, confirmed that they would change the word "leading" to "top". We considered that the claim "We believe we are one of the UK's top management companies" was likely to be interpreted as an expression of West 1 Promotions' opinion and, as such, was acceptable. We advised West 1 Promotions to use that claim, or a similar one, in future.

3. Complaint not upheld

We noted the complainant had asserted that West 1 Promotions placed clients with only one agency and that the director of West 1 Promotions worked for that agency. West 1 Promotions said they had not, as yet, placed any of their clients with the agency mentioned by the complainant. They sent a letter, addressed to West 1 Promotions, from a different agency that dealt with models, extras, actors and promotional artistes; the letter thanked West 1 Promotions for supplying details of clients and indicated that the agency intended to accept some of them.

We noted West 1 Promotions had stated that, although the director of West 1 Promotions worked for another agency, West 1 Promotions did not send clients to that agency. We considered that they had shown they sent clients to a different agency. We were satisfied that West 1 Promotions were an independent promotions company. We did not object on that point.

We investigated under CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find the leaflet in breach.

4. Complaint not upheld

West 1 Promotions said the information in the leaflet was accurate: their agencies' role was to find work for their models and extras; their role was to find new faces for the agencies. They said the letter referred to in point 3 showed they had a professional relationship with a model management company.

We considered that West 1 Promotions had shown that they had recently sent their clients' details to a UK model agency. We concluded that West 1 Promotions had substantiated that they found new faces for UK model agencies. We did not object on that point.

We investigated under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find the leaflet in breach.