ASA Adjudication on Men at Work Ltd

Ad

An ad, in the 'Personal' section of a national newspaper, stated "MEN AT WORK URGENTLY REQUIRED ESCORTS FOR OUR CLIENTS MALE & FEMALE ALL AGE GROUPS OVER 18 DISCRETION ASSURED 0870 033 09557 INTERNATIONAL WORK AN OPTION EXCELLENT RATES NO COMMISSION www.menatwork.uk.com".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether:

1. the work offered in the ad was genuine; and

2. the ad was misleading, because it did not make clear that Men at Work charged a registration fee.

The ASA challenged whether the ad was misleading, because it did not:

3. state the cost of calls; and

4. make clear that Men at Work was an employment agency.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Men at Work said they were not an 'agency' and they did not employ people. They also said their telephone number was not a premium rate service and, as such, they did not believe they had to include any information on prices.  They said they would amend the ad if their understanding was incorrect.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted the ad stated that escorts were urgently required for clients and considered that readers would infer that Men at Work could obtain escort work for those who registered with their service. We noted the complainant had received no offers of work after he joined the service and Men at Work had sent no evidence to demonstrate that they had obtained work for any individuals who registered with their service.    We concluded that Men at Work had not substantiated that they could provide work for escorts.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 52.2 (Employment and Business Opportunities).

2. Upheld

We understood that Men at Work charged a registration fee to people who joined their service and noted the complainant had paid £225.  We considered that the absence of any reference to the registration fee was likely to lead readers to infer that no fee applied. We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 52.2 (Employment and Business Opportunities).

3. Upheld

We noted the ad included a Number Translation Service (NTS) number to contact Men at Work and previous ASA adjudications had ruled that the costs of making calls to such numbers should be stated in the ad.  We noted the ad appeared in a classified Personal section of a national newspaper.  We concluded that in the absence of cost information either in the ad or elsewhere, for example featured prominently in the classified Personal section, readers were likely to be misled.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

4. Upheld

We noted Men at Work believed they were not an employment agency. We also noted, however, that their website described Men at Work as a "Male Escort Agency". We understood that Men at Work charged respondents a fee for promoting them to prospective clients and, therefore, we considered that they were an employment agency for the purposes of the Code. We concluded that the ad was misleading and breached the Code.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 52.3 (Employment and Business Opportunities).

Action

We told Men at Work to withdraw the ad and advised them to obtain advice from the Copy Advice team before advertising again.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)