Background
Update to Advertising Codes (7 April 2025):
On 7 April 2025, the Advertising Codes were updated to reflect the revocation and restatement of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (“CPRs” – the legislation from which the majority of the CAP and BCAP rules on misleading advertising derived) by the Unfair Commercial Practices provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (“DMCCA”). On that date, the wording of a number of the rules in the Advertising Codes was changed to reflect relevant changes introduced by the DMCCA on 6 April 2025.
Given that the complaint that formed the subject of this ruling were received before 7 April 2025, the ASA considered the ad and complaint under the wording of the rules that existed prior to 7 April 2025, and the Ruling (and references to rules within it) should therefore be read in line with this wording, available here – CAP Code and BCAP Code.
Ad description
A paid-for Instagram ad for 2xu Recovery Compression Tights seen on 25 September 2024. The reel featured various shots of individuals training while wearing the tights, with superimposed text that stated, “The tights that help you recover faster”.
The caption stated, “Recovery is training […] What does Recovery do for you? – Increase circulation. – Assist lymphatic drainage. – Ease muscle soreness. – Improve Blood Flow. – Reduce swelling. – Speed up muscle repair”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad breached the Code because it made medical claims for an unlicensed product.
Response
2XU UK Ltd t/a 2xu said that the product was not registered as a medical device because they did not believe the ad made medical claims. They believed that the product was marketed as an advanced recovery aid and they did not claim it was a treatment for medical conditions. They confirmed that the ad in question had since been removed and was no longer live.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated medicinal or medical claims and indications could only be made for a medicinal product that was licensed by the MHRA, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) or under the auspices of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or for a medical device with the applicable conformity marking. In addition, the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 required that a medical device should be registered with the MHRA before it was placed on the market in Great Britain.
The ad featured a number of claims, including “The tights that help you recover faster” and “What does Recovery do for you? […] increase circulation, assist lymphatic drainage, ease muscle soreness, improve blood flow, reduce swelling, speed up muscle repair”. The ASA considered the ad implied that the use of the Recovery Compression Tights could aid an individual’s recovery from exercise and alleviate symptoms, such as muscle soreness, swelling and reduce microtears. We therefore considered that the overall impression of the ad was that the Recovery Compression Tights could be used to treat or alleviate pain arising from physical exercise. We therefore considered that the ad made medical claims and therefore required that the product met the requirements for medical devices.
We understood that the product was not registered with the MHRA, nor had we seen evidence that the Recovery Compression Tights had the appropriate conformity marking. Therefore, no medical claims could be made for the product. Because the ad made such claims, we concluded that it breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.10 (Legality) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told 2XU UK Ltd t/a 2xu not to make medical claims for devices that did not hold the applicable conformity marking and were not registered with the MHRA.
