International Men’s Day, observed each year on 19 November, shines a spotlight on the wellbeing of men and boys and the positive contributions they make to society. As conversations around men’s mental health, body image and social expectations continue to grow, these themes are increasingly reflected in advertising.
To mark the occasion, we’ve highlighted some key considerations to help ensure your ads comply with the CAP Code.
Be responsible
Ads should be socially responsible and shouldn’t portray particular body types in an irresponsible manner or present an unhealthy body image as aspirational.
An ad for a diet and exercise programme, which suggested a child should change their body shape, was irresponsible as it was likely to exploit young people’s potential insecurities around body image, orand risked putting pressure on them to take extreme action to change their body shape.
Advertisers have a responsibility to make sure their ads don’t have an adverse impact on those affected by mental health issues, exploit insecurities or vulnerabilities or imply that men can only be happy if they look a certain way.
An AI-powered app, which scanned people’s faces and built a custom glow-up "Looksmaxxing" plan to maximise physical attractiveness, created the impression that using the app would significantly alter someone’s appearance.
The ads were misleading as the ASA hadn’t seen any evidence to substantiate that the before and after photos were genuine or were representative of typical results. The contrasting photos, which included the models looking happier and more confident in the “after” images, also perpetuated harmful gender stereotypes by suggesting that happiness or wellbeing depended on people’s looks conforming to gender stereotypical norms.
Offering hormonal health services or treatment?
Advertisers who offer services or treatments for health conditions should hold robust documentary evidence to prove objective claims, and if relevant, consisting of trials conducted on people.
Ads for blood tests which stated "40% OF MEN WITH OBESITY HAVE LOW TESTOSTERONE" and "95% OF MEN WITH LOW TESTOSTERONE ARE UNDIAGNOSED" were misleading because there wasn’t adequate evidence for the claims about the occurrence of low testosterone.
Hormone therapy ads, one of which claimed "Your GP said your testosterone is ‘fine’. […] We test deeper than your doctor did”, were also misleading and irresponsible. Substantiation to prove the tests and services were more effective than NHS GPs wasn’t sufficient, and the ads implied GPs were insufficiently thorough.
Advertisers should remember not to promote prescription-only medicines for testosterone, hair loss or erectile dysfunction to the public, and be aware of the different categories for products such as Viagra.
If you would like some advice to help keep your non-broadcast advertising in good health, please contact our Copy Advice team.
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