Ad description
Claims on http://skateexcellence.com promoted ice skating courses. Text stated "Where to Skate. There are currently 11 rinks in the UK who run Skate Excellence courses ... One third of the uk's [sic] ice rinks are teaching skate excellence".
Issue
The complainant, who understood that there were over fifty ice rinks in the UK, challenged whether the claim "one third of the uk's [sic] ice rinks are teaching skate excellence" was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
IMP UK, representing Skate Excellence, indicated by telephone that they could provide documentary evidence supporting the claim. However, that documentation was not provided to the ASA.
Assessment
Upheld
Although the ad specified the number of rinks in the UK which ran Skate Excellence courses, the ASA noted that we had not seen any supporting evidence showing those ice rinks which ran Skate Excellence courses or that "One third of the uk's [sic] ice rinks are teaching skate excellence". In the absence of supporting evidence, we concluded that 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) and 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration).
Action
The claim must not appear again in its current form. We told the advertisers to ensure they held supporting evidence for their advertising claims.
