Ad description
A paid-for Facebook post, dated May 21 2025 for 10X Business Live, an online business event by businessman Grant Cardone, included a video with a man who stated, “You’ve probably seen this guy all over your feed claiming he built a $5.5 million business in 90 days with no money, no social media and no name. Now, I understand this might sound unbelievable, but there’s a deeper story here […] He claims that all you need to grow a business in 2024 is the 7-Step Formula. It all makes perfect sense after listening to his viewpoint”. The video then featured Grant Cardone who stated, “[…] I said give me 90 days and I’ll build $1,000,000 business. Well in truth I’ve built a $5,5000,000 business with no money, couldn’t use my contacts, took on a new identity, that faked everybody out, and built a $5,5000,000 business in 90 days. And I’m telling you, you can do this too. I did this to prove to people that you don’t need time, you don’t need money and you don’t need a name, but you do need a strategy […] What I want to do today is I want to give you the strategy. It’s taken me 45 years to figure this out. Nobody gave this to me, I want to share this with you and some of you are going to do nothing with it, cost you nothing by the way, some of you will do nothing with it and some of you will turn this into millions, tens of millions. Maybe somebody will see this, use this and become a billionaire because of it. I’m doing this right now for free. I will not keep it for free for long […] This will be the last time you see it for free and I want to share it with you for free. Exactly what you could do to get from poverty to financial freedom, to get from making excuses about time and money to having all the time and money that you want. It’s possible…”.
The caption stated, “Grant Cardone’s 7-Step Formula for Scaling In Any Economic Condition. Grant’s new training reveals the exact system he used to grow from $2 million to over $700 million a formula that works regardless of market conditions. As someone who follows Grant, you know his business has thrived through multiple economic cycles. Register now for this $5,000 value training – completely FREE when you secure your seat today. Without these principles your business remains vulnerable to economic shifts and market volatility – while others who implement this system continue scaling regardless of conditions. Click the “Learn more” button below and secure your FREE seat now”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ad was misleading because it implied that the stated lifestyle and earnings were typical.
Response
Grant Cardone Training Technologies Inc t/a Grant Cardone said the Discovery Channel documented Grant Cardone’s successes and could be viewed on the TV show “Undercover Billionaire: Season 2”. They said in the ad, Grant was just sharing his experience on that show and how he achieved the challenge, and for those who would like to know what he did, they could do so for free on the training. They also clarified that they had removed the ad.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
The ad claimed that Grant Cardone built a $5,5000,000 business with no money in 90 days and that users who undertook the training would have the opportunity to learn the strategy that enabled him to achieve those profits.
We acknowledged the advertiser’s comment that Mr Cardone was sharing his experience from the TV show “Undercover Billionaire: Season 2” and that if the audience would like to know what he did to achieve those earnings they could undertake the training. However, we considered that the audience were likely to interpret the claims, “Well in truth I’ve built a $5,5000,000 business with no money, couldn’t use my contacts […] in 90 days. And I’m telling you, you can do this too”, “[…] you don’t need time, you don’t need money and you don’t need a name, but you do need a strategy […]” and that it “[…] works regardless of market conditions” to mean that they could learn how to achieve the same earnings and lifestyle as described in the ad by following Grant Cardone’s 7-Step Formula regardless of their experience level and personal circumstances. However, we understood that was unlikely to be the case and had not received information from the advertiser to demonstrate otherwise.
Because the ad implied the results were typical, and we understood that was not likely to be the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading Advertising) and 3.11 (Exaggeration).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form investigated. We told Grant Cardone Training Technologies Inc t/a Grant Cardone to ensure that future ads did not misleadingly imply claimed earnings results were typical.
