Misleading

A big part of our role is ensuring that ads don’t mislead. In fact, just over 70% of our work involves responding to and tackling concerns about misleading ads.

We should all be able to trust the ads we see and hear. And, in the majority of cases, we can. UK advertisers, by and large, stick to the rules. We only step in on occasions where an advertiser over-exaggerates, omits key information, or makes ambiguous or unclear claims in a way that’s likely to confuse or mislead us into making a purchase we wouldn’t otherwise have made.

The kind of complaints we receive about misleading ads often concern pricing and issues such as hidden costs like booking fees and credit card charges. We also receive complaints about exaggerated savings claims, significant terms and conditions not being made clear, promotions that aren’t run fairly, and health claims that discourage potentially vulnerable people from seeking professional medical advice or treatment.

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Latest rulings

Zzoomm plc
- Upheld
- Circular
- 22 October 2025
A circular letter for a broadband provider wasn’t obviously identifiable as marketing material and misled consumers by presenting it in a way that implied they were important notices on broadband disruption.
Assured Food Standards t/a Red Tractor
- Upheld
- Television
- 15 October 2025
A TV ad for Assured Food Standard’s Red Tractor Scheme failed to make clear exactly which standards it was referring to, or the degree to which those standards were being met when using the claim “farmed with care” in conjunction with “all our standards are met.”
Charlie Johnson
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 15 October 2025
Two paid-for social media ads by Charlie Johnson, a business coach in the fitness industry, misleadingly implied that claimed lifestyle and earning results were typical and that a promotion was time limited when this wasn’t the case.
Grant Cardone Training Technologies Inc t/a Grant Cardone
- Upheld
- Social media (paid ad)
- 15 October 2025
A paid-for Facebook ad for an online business event by businessman Grant Cardone misleadingly implied that claimed earnings results were typical.

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Misleading

A big part of our role is ensuring that ads don’t mislead. In fact, just over 70% of our work involves responding to and tackling concerns about misleading ads.

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