Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were upheld.
Ad description
Four paid-for Facebook ads and the website for “Evora Relief Koala” a multi-sensory stuffed toy, seen between February and July 2025:
a. The first Facebook ad displayed text that stated, “Anxiety keeping you up at night? That’s why 200,000+ people have adopted one of our cuddly Relief Koalas to calm their nights & restore their energy. Imagine finally drifting off in minutes and waking up refreshed”. An embedded video showed an individual in the foetal position who said, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore” before further imagery of them being handed a stuffed toy koala. A voice-over then stated, “My sister bought me this little koala to help relieve my anxiety. The koala mimics our own breathing patterns which is proven to relieve anxiety and panic.”
b. The second Facebook ad featured displayed text that stated, “Finally, no more restless nights” and “let our koala snuggle away your stress & invite calm into your nightly ritual”. An embedded video contained imagery of an individual and was accompanied by a voice-over that stated, “if you’ve tried melatonin, meditation apps or scrolling yourself to sleep and none of it works, Evora might be what finally helps you sleep at night […] I’ve had sleep issues for years. racing thoughts, stress, waking up exhausted, then I found Evora relief koala […] at first I was honestly so sceptical but it breathes like it physically rises and falls with your breath and it plays this gentle heartbeat sound that’s so calming to listen to. First night I tried it I fell asleep in under 20 minutes […] no meds […] I’m 42 now and hands down this is the best product I’ve ever used without question.” Accompanying on-screen text matched the voice-over.
c. The third Facebook ad displayed text that stated, “no more restless nights” and featured a video testimonial from an individual holding a stuffed koala toy. They stated, “My daughter has always been a bit of a worrier but recently the stress from school has gotten [sic] too much for her. She’d lie in bed for hours panicking about the smallest things […] broke my heart to see her like that. We tried so many things. Meditation apps, white noise, even talking to someone, but nothing actually helped her feel calm in the moment. Then I found the relief koala […] it’s honestly been an absolute gamechanger for her […] It has this clever breathing motion that mimics slow steady breaths […] your body naturally follows when you’re calm […] holds it and within minutes her breathing slows down […] she sleeps so much better now and it’s not just that she takes it everywhere to school […] friends and family houses […] I can’t recommend it enough. If your child deals with anxiety, restlessness you need to try this.”
d. The fourth Facebook ad featured a video with imagery of an individual cuddling a stuffed koala, accompanied by a voice-over that stated, “My hubby bought me this little koala to help me sleep when he’s not here. The koala mimics his breathing pattern […] its proven to relieve anxiety and ease you into sleep.” Accompanying text stated, “meet the antidotes to stress and sleepless nights: Evoras soothing Koala is my sleep sanctuary. Heartbeats and calming tunes dissolve anxiety”.
e. The website www.Evoraofficial.com included text that stated, “over 100,000 HAPPY SLEEPERS”; “alleviates stress & promotes calmness”; and “supports healthy sleep”.
Issue
BBC Morning Live challenged whether:
- the claims to treat anxiety and symptoms of insomnia in ads (a)–(d); and
- the claims over “200,000+ people have adopted” and “over 100,000 HAPPY SLEEPERS” in ads (a) and (e) were misleading; and
- the testimonials in ads (a)–(d) were genuine.
Response
Persons unknown t/a Evora Official did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by Evora Official's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1. Upheld
The CAP Code stated medicinal or medical claims and indications could only be made for a medicinal product that was licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (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. A medicinal claim was a claim that a product or its constituent(s) could be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis, or could treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings. We understood that the product was not registered with the MHRA as a medical device.
The ASA considered that consumers were likely to understand the claims “Anxiety keeping you up at night?” and “mimics our own breathing patterns which is proven to relieve anxiety and panic” in ad (a); “if you’ve tried melatonin, meditation apps or scrolling to fall asleep”, “Evora might be what finally gets you to sleep at night” and “first night I tried it I fell asleep in under 20 mins” and “no meds” in ad (b); “nothing actually helped her feel calm in the moment”, “she sleeps so much better now” and “If your child deals with anxiety, restlessness you need to try this” in ad (c); and “it’s proven to relieve anxiety and ease you into sleep”, “meet the antidotes to stress and sleepless nights” and “Heartbeats and calming tunes dissolve anxiety” in ad (d), to mean that the Evora Koala was able to treat anxiety, panic and restlessness as well as improving sleep onset and sleep quality, including in children, where referenced.
We considered that those references to anxiety, panic and ongoing sleep difficulties would be understood as references to recognised health conditions, specifically anxiety and insomnia, rather than temporary or situational stress or tiredness. We therefore considered that the claims went beyond general wellbeing and amounted to medical claims for the purposes of the Code.
Whilst we would have expected to see robust evidence to support the efficacy claims, Evora did not supply any. In any case, because the ad made medical claims, it was therefore necessary for the product to meet the requirements for medical devices. However, as explained above, because we understood the product was not registered with the MHRA, nor had we seen any evidence that it had the applicable conformity marking, we therefore considered that no medical claims could be made for the product, and we concluded that the ads breached the Code.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
2. Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the claims “200,000+ people have adopted one of our cuddly Relief Koalas” and “over 100,000 HAPPY SLEEPERS” to mean that at least 200,000 people had purchased the product and that over 100,000 of those customers were satisfied with it.
We therefore expected the advertiser to hold documentary evidence to substantiate those objective claims, such as verifiable sales records demonstrating the number of units sold and customer data showing the basis on which individuals were counted as “HAPPY SLEEPERS”. However, no evidence was provided.
In the absence of such evidence, we concluded that the claims had not been substantiated and were misleading.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.7.
3. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketers must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication was genuine, unless it was obviously fictitious, and hold contact details for the person who gave it.
We considered consumers would interpret the testimonials in ads (a) – (d) as genuine testimonials that reflected real experiences with the product.
However, we had not received any evidence that the testimonials in ads (a) – (d) were genuine or received any contact details for the people who gave them. Furthermore ads (a) and (d) used the same voice-over, presented as first-person testimony, despite depicting different scenarios. Another individual appeared in both ads (b) and (c), despite describing different personal experiences. Therefore, we considered that the repeated use of the same individuals and voice-overs, together with inconsistencies in the personal circumstances they described, suggested that the testimonials were scripted or illustrative rather than genuine. We therefore concluded that they were misleading.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.44 and 3.47.
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Persons unknown t/a Evora Official not to make medical claims for the product, including that it could relieve symptoms of anxiety and insomnia, for products that did not have the applicable conformity marking and were not registered with the MHRA, and were not supported by robust evidence. We also told them to ensure that objective claims were substantiated and that testimonials were genuine. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
