ASA Adjudication on Mr Morro

Ad

A circular, for Mr Morro, stated “African Spiritual Healer Mr Morro Can Help with your Problems Maintain family ties and Relationships Keep loved ones, gives you and your family wellbeing Sustain love and enliven love, get rid of bad luck, Black Magic Or get rid of Evil Spirits from the affect [sic] one. Become Healthy from Sickness of all kinds He is also capable of solving all Psychological, Financials [sic], Socials [sic] and Academic problems ...".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether Mr Morro could prove that he could get rid of bad luck and evil spirits, perform black magic, heal all types of sickness and solve all psychological, financial, social and academic problems.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Mr Morro did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned by Mr Morro's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response). We reminded him of his responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in future.

In the absence of any documentary evidence to prove that Mr Morro could get rid of bad luck and evil spirits, perform black magic, heal all types of sickness and solve all psychological, financial, social and academic problems, we concluded that the claims were unsubstantiated and misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response), 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 50.3 (Health and beauty products and therapies - General).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Mr Morro not to claim that he could get rid of bad luck and evil spirits, perform black magic, heal all types of sickness and solve all psychological, financial, social and academic problems. We asked CAP to inform its members of the problem with Mr Morro.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)