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

Select Specs Ltd
- Upheld
- Television, Social media (own site)
- 12 November 2025
A TV and YouTube ad for a glasses retailer made misleading and unverifiable price comparisons with competitor products. The ads also made misleading pricing claims, including by failing to make minimum order requirements and non-optional delivery charges sufficiently clear.
WHG (International) Ltd t/a William Hill Online
- Upheld
- App (own claim)
- 29 October 2025
An in-app ad promoting an offer for a game in the William Hill app misleadingly contradicted the terms and conditions that applied to the offer.
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.”

View all rulings

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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