ASA Adjudication on Ideal Shopping Direct plc

Ad

A teleshopping promotion for the Proto-Col range included Proto-Col Collagen capsules and Proto-Col Coral and Collagen moisturiser. The Managing Director of the range, Mr. James Greenwell, stated: ~ "We are helping people with their health, their vitality, their well-being and their beauty ... Proto-Col is not just a beauty product ... there is a considerable health and well being property to utilising collagen of this nature ..."; ~ "What this product is is pure collagen ... the delivery system of the collagen is really simple ... you just eat them ... "; ~ "Put that collagen back into the body by eating those capsules every single day"; ~ "You'll see the positive benefits that Proto-Col gives you ... I can walk down the street and I can tell if someone is utilising the collagen capsules because of the way their skin looks, that natural vibrant glow that people have"; ~ "It's a gel ... it's packed full of vitamins and minerals and goodness ... The primary active ingredient is collagen. We know collagen is good for the skin because it is the largest protein found in the skin and you'll find that in any textbook"; ~ "What we are doing is applying collagen back to the skin topically"; ~ "Training put pressure on my joints, my ligaments, my tendons not to mention my skin ... For dealing with my skin being shockingly poor for years ... it was the collagen that made the difference for me personally"; ~ "The damage was done to my skin, the damage was done to my body, and taking the collagen turned my life around, literally. Over a very short period of time ... my skin, my complexion, has been totally almost revisited. And my skin is much better now than it was five or even ten years ago"; ~ "... the collagen addressing all the issues from the inside, and you've got the collagen coming from the skincare range from the outside, topically applied directly onto the skin ... and that's what makes Proto-Col a market leader not just in sales but also in research and in clinical studies ..."; ~ "....Proto-Col is for you whether it's the anti-ageing benefits that people can see from collagen or the health, vitality and the well-being."

Issue

A viewer objected that the ad was misleading because she believed there were no proven health or complexion benefits either to the ingestion or the topical application of the products.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Ideal Shopping Direct Plc t/a Ideal World (Ideal World) said they had discussed the format for the Proto-Col promotion with the producer, the presenter, and Mr. James Greenwell the Managing Director of the On-Group (the supplier of Proto-Col products) in order to ensure compliance with the Advertising Codes. Ideal World said they took their obligations under the Codes seriously and would never seek to mislead consumers. They said Mr. Greenwell did not discuss the role of collagen in the body, or the physical injuries he had suffered in his sporting career and his belief that collagen ingestion had aided his recovery at length during the broadcast.

Ideal World said the Proto-Col capsules were not sold on their own but together with the collagen moisturiser and the emphasis in the broadcast was on the benefit to the complexion derived from the combined use of both products. They said Mr. Greenwell had discussed his own experience of improved skin condition using the collagen products during the promotion and they believed this was reasonable. However, Ideal World said they accepted Mr. Greenwell had stated that collagen could be put back into the body by ingesting it and by topically applying it, and had also implied this could improve the complexion. They also accepted that he had stated that the Proto-Col range could benefit "health, vitality and well-being". They agreed these claims were not yet supported by scientific evidence. They said Mr. Greenwell had admitted his error and apologised for departing from the agreed script. They sent a letter from Mr. Greenwell to show that. Ideal World said they took responsibility as the broadcaster for Mr. Greenwell's statements and also apologised.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned that the ad made claims for benefits to health and complexion, despite a previous ASA ruling that stated such effects were not proven. We considered that the claims made in the ad were similar to those made previously.  We accepted that Mr. Greenwell had not discussed his belief that ingestion of collagen had aided his recovery from physical injury at length in this ad, nevertheless we considered that the phrases; "Training put pressure on my joints, my ligaments, my tendons not to mention my skin..." and "The damage was done to my skin, the damage was done to my body, and taking the collagen turned my life around, literally" implied that ingestion of the collagen capsules could aid recuperation from injury. Because Ideal World had not provided evidence to show that, we concluded that the claims were misleading.

We acknowledged Ideal World's assertion that the emphasis in the ad was primarily on promoting the benefits to the complexion of dual use of the Proto-Col capsules and moisturiser. However, we had previously upheld complaints about claims that implied that ingesting Proto-Col capsules could improve the complexion and considered that this ad continued to imply a proven effect of the product on the skin. We considered that it also implied that the topical application of the Proto-Col moisturiser could improve the complexion by putting collagen back into the skin. Because Ideal World had not provided evidence to prove that, we concluded that these claims and the claims that the products could improve "health, vitality and well-being" were misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 and 5.2.1 (Misleading advertising) 8.3.1(a) and 8.3.1 (b) (Food and dietary supplements).

Action

We told Ideal World not to repeat the claims or to make claims, direct or implied, that the Proto-Col range could improve health, vitality or well-being or improve the complexion and aid recuperation from injury by putting collagen back into the body. We were concerned by Ideal Shopping's repeat breach of the Code following a previous ASA adjudication on the Proto-Col range and warned the broadcaster that failure to comply with the Codes could result in further action.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)