Ad description

A claim in a product listing on the website www.furniturevillage.co.uk, for a "Millionaire Pillowtop Ultra" mattress, stated "Encased in a soft damask fabric cover embedded with Sealy Smart Fibres, this mattress is designed ... to keep you cool, fresh and dry ...".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim that the mattress would "keep you ... cool, fresh and dry" was misleading and could be substantiated, because they had purchased the product and found that it did not have that effect.

Response

Furniture Village Ltd (Furniture Village) felt that the claim "this mattress is designed ... to keep you cool, fresh and dry" was a true representation of Sealy Smart Fibres, from which the mattress was made. They said they had contacted the manufacturer of the mattress, who had confirmed that Sealy Smart Fibres contained "Tencel" fibres (also known as lyocell fibres) which kept the user cool and dry, and that the manufacturer was happy with the product description on Furniture Village's website. They provided screenshots of the manufacturer's website, which included a page about Smart Fibres stating "Smart Fibres promise a Cool, Fresh, Dry and Hypoallergenic sleeping environment ... Tencel(R) fibres help keep you cool and dry. The fibrils are hydrophilic and optimize the absorption of moisture with excellent cooling properties, this excellent moisture absorbtion [sic] guarantees that the sleeping area remains pleasantly dry thus enhancing sleep". They also quoted a comment from the manufacturer which stated that the use of Sealy Smart Fibres on the sleeping surface of the mattress was conducive to the comfort of a night's sleep, and that the same technology was used in slightly different forms in the production of fabrics such as for sportswear and outdoor weather garments where temperature and moisture control were important to the comfort of the end user.

Furniture Village further explained that Tencel was an organic fibre made from natural wood cellulose which absorbed, dissipated and evaporated 50% more moisture than cotton and had a silky smooth surface, which imparted a cooling sensation on the skin. They considered that their claim was in line with those made by other companies and was supported by detailed research and corroborative data. They supplied a copy of a presentation document and four studies which looked into the properties of Tencel fibres.

Furniture Village pointed out that the individual circumstances of the user, such as the heating in the bedroom, the fabric of sleeping garments, bed linen, the presence of a mattress protector or the health of the user, would make each consumer's experience of the mattress different. They added that both they and the manufacturer planned to add text to their descriptions of products using Sealy Smart Fibres stating that the user's temperature in bed might also be influenced by the heating and ventilation in their bedroom, the weight of their bedding and the clothes they wore in bed.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that the claim "Encased in a soft damask fabric cover embedded with Sealy Smart Fibres, this mattress is designed ... to keep you cool, fresh and dry ..." implied that the efficacy of the mattress in imparting those properties to the user was derived from its composition. We considered that consumers were likely to realise that individual circumstances could alter the degree to which the effect was felt, but would nevertheless understand the claim to mean that the design of the mattress would, if all other factors remained constant, keep the user cooler, fresher and drier than they were when using other mattresses. We acknowledged that Furniture Village proposed to add qualifying text to the description of products containing Sealy Smart Fibres explaining factors that might influence the user's temperature in bed, but considered that consumers would still understand that the claim was based on verifiable evidence which would hold true for the vast majority of users.

We noted the manufacturer's comments and the screen-shots of the manufacturer's web page about Smart Fibres, but considered that those would be insufficient to substantiate the claim unless they were supported by robust evidence demonstrating the efficacy of the mattress in keeping the user cool, fresh and dry. We therefore considered the studies of Tencel fibres provided by Furniture Village. The studies used a number of testing methods to examine the thermoregulating and porous properties, as well as the effect on humidity levels and sleep quality of Tencel/lyocell fibres, or of various types of bedding containing those fibres. The presentation document also supplied by Furniture Village outlined the results of some of those studies as well as referencing other experiments which had not been provided. However, because the presentation document did not contain full information regarding the methodology used to achieve those results, we were unable to discern whether the study methodologies and findings referenced in that document were sufficient to substantiate any efficacy claims.

Whilst the full studies provided by Furniture Village appeared to support the notion that Tencel fibres had a high heat absorption capacity and might encourage low humidity levels, they did not examine those fibres as a component part of a mattress of the type advertised. We considered that other features of the mattress might have an impact on the user's sleeping experience and therefore that it was not possible, without further supporting information, to extrapolate the results of experiments conducted on the fibres, or on a combination of blankets and pillows or whole bedding systems made from Tencel, to the efficacy of the "Millionaire Pillowtop Ultra" mattress itself, or that type of mattress generally, in keeping the user cool, fresh and dry. We further noted that it had not been established how the comparator textiles against which Tencel had been tested were representative of those commonly found in other mattresses, or how certain of the test conditions replicated real-world scenarios, and were concerned that the sampling for the two studies using test subjects might not have been sufficiently representative of the population.

We considered that the claim "Encased in a soft damask fabric cover embedded with Sealy Smart Fibres, this mattress is designed ... to keep you cool, fresh and dry ..." implied to consumers that the mattress as a whole would, if all other factors remained constant, keep them cooler, fresher and drier than they would otherwise have been. However, we had not seen evidence that considered the impact of the mattress alone on the user's sleep, we therefore concluded that the claim had not been sufficiently substantiated and was therefore misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising),  3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.  (Substantiation) and  3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product.  (Exaggeration).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Furniture Village Ltd not to state or imply that the mattress would keep users cool, fresh and dry if they did not hold robust documentary evidence to support that claim.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.11     3.7    


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