Ad description
A website, www.louishoover.co.uk, made numerous claims that Louis Hoover had created the musical "The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas".
On the "Biography" page, it stated "In 1999 Louis Hoover created the cult musical 'The Rat Pack' which played to packed houses at London's West End for three and a half years". On the page headed "Shows, My Way", it stated "The brand new show from the star and creator of the smash hit West End production 'The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas' now seen by over 16 million people worldwide!" On the page headed "Shows, Salute to Sinatra", it stated "Louis, an original co-creator of the West End hit musical The Rat Pack ...".
Issue
The Flying Music Company Ltd challenged whether the claims were misleading and could be substantiated, because they had produced "The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas" musical and that the advertiser was not a "creator" of the production.
Response
Louis Hoover stated that he had been hired by Flying Music Co Ltd, as a "creator" and "lead performer" for the musical "The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas". Louis Hoover provided previous correspondences between him and Flying Music, following their request that he no longer stated or suggested that he had or continued to have any creative role in the musical's production. In his response to Flying Music and in a separate statement, Louis Hoover explained how he had provided creative input into the musical, which he considered demonstrated that he was in fact, a creator of the production.
Louis Hoover referred to the Rat Pack souvenir brochure, which he stated gave him the headlining credit. This he believed, in theatrical terms, demonstrated his position as an original co-creator or creator of the musical. He stated that when an artist played the original role in a production, it was universally deemed that they originally created that role.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged Louis Hoover's statement, the correspondences between him and Flying Music and the references to the Rat Pack show souvenir brochure. While we noted his own recollection of events regarding his creative input into the musical, we did not consider that he had provided robust documentary evidence demonstrating that he had been a creator of the show or been recognised as such. Therefore, we concluded that the claims had not been substantiated and were misleading.
The ad 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 claims must not appear again in their current form. We told Louis Hoover that his advertising must not state or suggest that he created or co-created the musical "The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas".
