Ad description

A national press and TV ad for no!no! hair removal device:

a. The press ad included text which stated "The NEW & IMPROVED no! no! PRO ... For INSTANT hair removal that's powerful, PAINLESS & professional ... 60-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE ... try in your own home … RISK FREE* FOR 60 DAYS!" The asterisk referred to small print at the bottom of the ad which stated "*Excl P&P". The ad included a phone number and the website address www.dmailpro.co.uk.

b. The TV ad featured verbal testimonials from customers intercut with a voice-over which stated "It's not a razor, it's not a laser ... It's the new no! no! PRO, the latest technology from Radiancy ... When you order we'll send you the new cordless no! no! PRO in your choice of colours ...] Radiancy, the makers of no! no! will let you try it at home for not just 30 days but 60 days with our money-back guarantee. If you use no! no! for 60 days and are not 100% satisfied, we'll refund the purchase price ... Call or order online now". The ad included a phone number and website address.

Issue

Two complainants challenged whether the ads were misleading, because they did not include the price of the product or the cost of delivery.

Response

Photo Therapeutics Ltd t/a no!no! said there was no absolute requirement in the CAP Code to include pricing information, and that it would only be a breach to omit that information if the omission rendered the ad misleading. They did not believe it was misleading to omit the price of the products or price of delivery from these ads. Although the price of the product and cost of delivery would be material information to the consumer when making a decision regarding whether or not to make a purchase, the information was made available to consumers should they respond via any of the advertised purchase methods. They did not believe that the inclusion of the money back guarantee raised any additional requirement to include price information in the ad.

In relation to the TV ad Clearcast agreed with Photo Therapeutics' response. They said the ad contained two points of contact where viewers could find more information and ask questions without necessarily placing an order. They believed the concept of advertisers inviting viewers to trial a product without specifying the upfront cost had been established for some time and they were not aware of a reason for such ads being considered misleading.

Assessment

Not upheld

The Codes stated that marketing communications must not mislead by omitting material information, and that material information was information which was needed by the consumer to make informed decisions in relation to the product. Whilst consumers would need to know the price of the product and cost of delivery before making a decision as to whether to proceed with a purchase, the ads did not contain specific prices or make any reference to price in general, and we therefore did not consider that omitting the price of the product or delivery created a misleading impression. The ads also directed consumers to two sources of further information regarding the products. We therefore concluded the ads were not misleading.

We investigated ad (a) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising), but did not find it in breach. We investigated ad (b) under BCAP Code rules  3.1 3.1 Advertisements must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.2 3.2 Advertisements must not mislead consumers by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that consumers need in context to make informed decisions about whether or how to buy a product or service. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead consumers depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the advertisement is constrained by time or space, the measures that the advertiser takes to make that information available to consumers by other means.
 (Misleading advertising), but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

BCAP Code

3.1     3.2    

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.3    


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