Harmful

All ads should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society. They must not cause serious or widespread harm or use approaches that are likely to encourage socially irresponsible behaviour.

This includes not causing fear or distress without justifiable reason (and where justified, the fear or distress should not be excessive) and not condoning or encouraging unsafe practice.

We have upheld complaints about harm and social responsibility against a diverse range of ads including:

Alcohol – e.g. not encouraging excessive or unwise styles of drinking
Motoring – e.g. not encouraging motorists to drive irresponsibly such as at high speed or without a seatbelt
Health – e.g. not discouraging essential treatment of serious or prolonged ailments
Body Image – e.g. not encouraging an unhealthy diet or lifestyle including the depiction of extremely thin models

Particularly special care should be taken when ads are addressed to, or depict, children or young people. Ads that fall in to this category should contain nothing that is likely to result in a child’s physical, mental or moral harm and they should not exploit a child’s credulity, loyalty, vulnerability or lack of experience.

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Latest rulings

Glow Up LLC t/a Maxxing
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 02 September 2026
Two paid-for Meta ads for an AI powered app to maximise physical attractiveness misleadingly exaggerated the effectiveness of the product, were irresponsible and included gender stereotypes that were likely to cause harm.
PLK Chicken UK Ltd t/a Popeyes
- Not upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 02 September 2026
An Instagram ad by @onlyscrans and a paid-for Instagram ad for Popeyes didn’t break the rules by featuring an identifiable less healthy food product.
SheMed Ltd
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 02 September 2026
A paid-for Reddit ad for a female-focused medical weight-loss service promoted weight-loss prescription-only medicines to the public, against the law and our rules, was likely to exploit consumers’ insecurities relating to body image and weight and was irresponsible.
The Monty Bojangles Co Ltd
- Not upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 02 September 2026
A paid-for Instagram ad for Monty Bojangles didn’t break the less healthy food rules because it was a small and medium-sized enterprise and was therefore exempt.

View all rulings

Harmful

All ads should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society. They must not cause serious or widespread harm or use approaches that are likely to encourage socially irresponsible behaviour.

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Latest rulings

Glow Up LLC t/a Maxxing

PLK Chicken UK Ltd t/a Popeyes

SheMed Ltd

The Monty Bojangles Co Ltd

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Popular advice

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