Ad description
The website www.activetraining.uk.com stated, “PERSONAL TRAINER COURSES BY ACTIVE TRAINING UK … We are the fastest growing provider of accredited Personal Trainer and Nutrition courses in both the UK and Internationally [sic] … The qualifications we deliver are accredited by REPs and Active IQ which means that your certificates are recognised in both the UK and Internationally [sic]. The web page also featured a video and an additional web page which included the logo of Active IQ.
Issue
Active IQ said they had not accredited Active Training UK and challenged whether the reference to accreditation by Active IQ and the use of their logo were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Pure Fitness Group Ltd t/a UK active training did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by UK active training’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and we told them to do so in future.
We considered the references to accreditation by Active IQ and the use of Active IQ’s logo implied that UK active training were registered members of that organisation. Because we had not been provided with evidence that this was the case, we concluded the ad was 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), 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), 3.43 3.43 Marketing communications must not take unfair advantage of the reputation of a competitor's trade mark, trade name or other distinguishing mark or of the designation of origin of a competing product. (Imitation and denigration), 3.45 3.45 Marketers must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication is genuine, unless it is obviously fictitious, and hold contact details for the person who, or organisation that, gives it. and 3.50 3.50 Marketing communications must not display a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without the necessary authorisation. Marketing communications must not claim that the marketer (or any other entity referred to), the marketing communication or the advertised product has been approved, endorsed or authorised by any public or other body if it has not or without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation. (Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Pure Fitness Group Ltd t/a UK active training not to state or imply they were accredited by Active IQ. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance Team.
