Background
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 was received before 7 April 2025, the ASA considered the ad(s) 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 blog post on the website for a reusable product retailer Cheeky Wipes, www.cheekywipes.com, seen on 18 March 2025. The post was titled “Are Children Toilet Training Late? Yes, The Results Are In!” and detailed the results from the “Toilet training Census”, a survey conducted by Cheeky Wipes. Text stated, “And the results? They confirmed what many of us have suspected: yes, children are potty training significantly later than ever before – and disposable nappies might be playing a big role”.
Under a heading “What Does This Mean for Parents?”, text stated, “These findings reinforce what we at Cheeky have known for years – reusable nappies […] help children potty train earlier […] If you’re considering making the switch to reusable nappies […] you’re setting your child up for toilet training success”.
Links to reusable nappy products sold by Cheeky Wipes featured under a heading “Recommended Products”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim that reusable nappies helped toilet training earlier than disposable nappies was misleading.
Response
Cheeky Baby Products Ltd t/a Cheeky Wipes said that the claim was based on their Toilet Training Census survey, which they conducted in February 2025 in partnership with other retailers operating in the reusable nappy and potty-training sector. They said that 2,009 parents participated in the survey and that the sample reflected a broad and realistic representation of families in the UK. Cheeky Wipes provided the key findings from the survey, including the finding that 72% of reusable nappy users and 54% of disposable nappy users were toilet trained by two and a half years old.
They believed they explicitly stated that reuseable nappy use was only one factor associated with earlier toilet training and that they did not claim that reusable nappies alone resulted in increased success for earlier toilet training. Cheeky Wipes acknowledged that there was a risk of self-selection bias as the participants had opted in voluntarily and may have been more familiar with or interested in reusable nappy practices, and that the results had been provided by the parents and had not been independently verified. They said that they intended to identify associations between nappy type and reported toilet training age, but they did not seek to establish causality.
Cheeky Wipes provided the full anonymised results of the survey.
Assessment
Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the ad to be based on the results of the “Toilet Training Census” survey and would therefore understand most of the claims to be subjective and based on self-reported consumer data. However, we considered that consumers would understand the claims “[The results] confirmed what many of us have suspected: yes, children are potty training significantly later than ever before – and disposable nappies might be playing a big role”, and “These findings reinforce what we at Cheeky have known for years – reusable nappies […] help children potty train earlier” to mean that reusable nappies helped children to toilet train earlier than disposable nappies. We acknowledged that Cheeky Wipes did not intend to establish causality between nappy type and toilet training age. However, we considered that the overall impression from the ad was that reusable nappies contributed to earlier toilet training. As such, we expected to see robust substantiation for that claim.
We assessed the evidence provided by Cheeky Wipes. The Toilet Training Census was an online questionnaire completed by 2,009 parents, reporting on approximately 3,400 children. The results, as acknowledged by Cheeky Wipes, relied on self-reported data which had not been independently verified. We considered that did not constitute adequate evidence to substantiate the claim made in the ad that reusable nappies helped children to toilet train earlier than disposable nappies.
We also considered that the questionnaire had not collected robust data on other factors that might have an impact on the age at which children became successfully toilet trained, such as socio-economic factors and the methods used for toilet training. We acknowledged that certain factors, such as household structure, number of children, and parents’ employment status were included, as well as anecdotal responses on toilet training methods. However, we considered that toilet training was a complex area, and it was important that the claim was based on significant evidence that accounted for a variety of factors.
Because we considered that the evidence provided was inadequate, we concluded that the claim that reusable nappies helped children toilet train earlier had not been substantiated and was misleading.
The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.33 (Comparisons with identifiable competitors).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Cheeky Baby Products Ltd t/a Cheeky Wipes not to state or imply that reusable nappies could help earlier toilet training unless they held adequate evidence to support their claims.
