Background
Summary of Council decision:
Four issues were investigated, all were Upheld.
Ad description
A website and a classified ad on Gumtree, for a modelling agency:
a. A page on the website www.msma.co.uk, for a modelling agency, was headed "WHAT ARE WE ABOUT?". Further text stated "Founded 7 years ago by twin brother and sister Joanne and Derrick Jameson-Bell ...". A further page headed "OUR CLIENTS" stated "So below, whilst you'll find some of our more prominent clients, they represent about 10% of our total client base". The logos of a number of high street fashion retailers were then displayed.
b. The Gumtree ad stated "We have no height restrictions and zero fees."
Issue
Clive Hurst challenged whether:
1. the claim that the agency had been founded seven years ago, was misleading and could be substantiated;
2. the claim that the agency had been founded by Joanne and Derrick Jameson-Bell, was misleading and could be substantiated;
3. the high street fashion retailers listed on the website, were genuinely clients of the advertiser; and
4. the claim "zero fees" was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Models of Style (MoS) did not respond to our enquiries.
Assessment
1– 4. Upheld
The ASA was concerned by MoS's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code. (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
We noted that we had not seen any evidence to support the challenged claims and, because they had not been substantiated, we concluded that they were misleading.
On points 1 to 4, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
