Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for Marble Muse, www.marblemuse.co.uk, a clothing company, seen on 29 May 2025, featured on its homepage images of models in a countryside setting surrounded by roses.
A central banner, with the tagline “STYLE THAT COMES WITH YOU” was overlaid on an image of a handbag set against a city street backdrop. Beneath that, the text “BRITISH BRAND” appeared alongside a Union Jack icon and the text “FREE UK Shipping”.
Further down the page, an image showed a woman carrying a Marble Muse handbag while crossing a cobbled street framed by townhouses and shops. In the “Contact Us” section, the company’s address was listed as an address in London, UK.
A header that stated “BEHIND THE MUSE” was displayed at both the top of the page and as a link in the “CUSTOMER SERVICE” section at the bottom of the page. It linked to a page featuring content about Marble Muse’s founders which featured a subheading “OUR BEGINNINGS”. Text underneath stated that the brand was “founded in London”.
Issue
The BBC challenged whether:
- the website misleadingly implied that the company was based in the UK, as they understood the company was based in China.
- by omitting the identity and geographical address of the company, the ad breached the Code.
Response
1. & 2. Marble Muse did not respond to the ASA’s enquires.
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld
The CAP Code required that marketing communications must not mislead by omitting material information, hiding it or presenting it in an untimely manner. For ads that quoted prices for advertised products, material information included the identity and geographical address of the marketer . We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquires and told them to do so in future.
The ad featured images of the models styled in several backdrops, including what appeared to be the English countryside and a London street. The ASA considered those visuals had a distinctly British aesthetic. The ad also referred to “Free UK Shipping” and “BRITISH BRAND” alongside a Union Jack icon, a London address and stated the company was “founded in London”.
We considered that consumers were likely to understand from those elements of the ad, that Marble Muse was based in the UK, specifically, London, when we understood that was not the case.
While the ad did include a geographical address on the website, we noted that this appeared to be a residential address within a housing estate, with no visible indication that it was is a place of business. We also noted that it was stated on the website that all returns were to be sent to the advertiser’s warehouse in Asia. We therefore considered that the address was unlikely to be a genuine business premises from which the advertiser operated.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.7 (Unreasonable delay) and 3.1, 3.3 and 3.4 (Misleading Advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Marble Muse to ensure their advertising did not misleadingly state or imply they were based in the UK and, where their ads quoted prices for advertised products, to include the geographical address from which they operated. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
