Ad description

Claims for a product listing on www.ecrater.co.uk for a mosquito repellent kit stated "Mosquito killer, electric, Ultrasonic Mosquito Repeller".  Under the heading "Description", text stated "the mosquito repeller uses advanced technology insect repellent that makes outdoor living and activities more enjoyable from the annoyance of mosquitoes, it work [sic] to help you while you're fishing, camping, hiking, camping [sic], jogging, on the golf course, or just at ease on your patio or porch.  No chemical, no vapor, no odor, no pulveriser.  Powered by on VR2032 button cell battery (include) [sic].  With a keychain for easy carrying."

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the efficacy claims that the product could kill and repel mosquitoes were misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

bestwholesal did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

The ASA was concerned by bestwholesal'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.

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad made efficacy claims that the product used ultrasonic technology to repel and kill mosquitoes.  We therefore expected bestwholesal to hold robust scientific evidence in the form of clinical trials which demonstrated how that technology repelled and killed mosquitoes and was relevant to mosquitoes found in the UK.  We had not seen any such evidence and we therefore concluded the efficacy claims that the product used ultrasonic technology to repel and kill mosquitoes had not been substantiated and were misleading.

The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  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),  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 claims must no longer appear.  We told bestwholesal not to make efficacy claims for the product unless they held evidence to substantiate them.  We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

1.7     3.1     3.7    


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