Background
This ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on misleadingness and irresponsibility in ads for tanning products. The ads were identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 21 January 2026.
Summary of Council decision:
Four issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A paid-for Facebook ad for Tanbox Towcester, a tanning studio, seen on 23 June 2025. The ad featured several carousel images, which included the claims “Boosts your Vitamin D”, “The beds can contribute towards getting the essential hit of vitamin D that you need to stay healthy”, “Improves your mood”, “UV light has been found to help some people feel a lift in mood and energy”, “Great for people diagnosed with SAD (SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER) […]”, and “Keeps your tan healthy”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether:
- the ad discouraged essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought, namely seasonal affective disorder (SAD);
- the claims that the use of sunbeds provided the body with vitamin D and could improve mood and energy levels were misleading;
- the ad was irresponsible because it linked claims for health benefits with the use of sunbeds; and
- the claim “keeps your tan healthy” was misleading and irresponsible.
Response
1., 2., 3. & 4. Tanbox Towcester Ltd did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Tanbox Towcester Ltd’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 that marketers must not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. For example, they must not offer specific advice on, diagnosis of or treatment for such conditions unless that advice, diagnosis or treatment was conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional.
The ad included the claim “Great for people diagnosed with SAD (SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER) […]”. The ASA considered that consumers would interpret the claim to mean that using sunbeds was capable of improving the symptoms of SAD (also known as “winter depression”), which was a condition for which medical supervision should be sought, and therefore advice, diagnosis or treatment must be conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified medical professional.
We had not seen evidence to show that the Tanbox Towcester tanning services and sunbeds were provided under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional. We considered that in the absence of such a professional, the ad therefore discouraged essential medical treatment for a condition for which medical supervision should be sought and therefore breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 12.2 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
2. Upheld
The ad included the claims “Boosts your Vitamin D”, “The beds can contribute towards getting the essential hit of vitamin D that you need to stay healthy”, “Improves your mood” and “UV light has been found to help some people feel a lift in mood and energy”.
We considered that those claims implied that the use of sunbeds could increase vitamin D levels, improve mood and increase energy, and therefore provide a health benefit. We understood the NHS’s established position regarding the use of sunbeds was characterised by a high degree of caution. The NHS website stated that there was no safe or healthy way to get a tan through exposure to UV rays and that using sunbeds could increase the risk of skin cancer. It further stated that exposure to UV rays was the number one cause of skin cancer in the UK, and that included melanoma, which was the most dangerous type of skin cancer. The website also listed the health risks associated with sunbeds, which included skin cancer, premature skin ageing and sunburn. The NHS further advised not to use sunbeds as a way of boosting vitamin D and that the safest way to get vitamin D was through a healthy diet or supplement. The NHS website finally linked to the Cancer Research UK website which said that any vitamin D that was obtained through a sunbed was outweighed by their harms.
Because the NHS and Cancer Research UK were clear about the risks of sunbeds, and therefore any health benefits from sunbeds was exceeded by their risks, we concluded that the claims in the ad that sunbeds provided health benefits were misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), and 12.1 (Medicines, Medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
3. Upheld
As explained above, we considered that consumers would likely understand from the ad that there were health benefits, such as vitamin D intake, improving mood and increasing energy, to be gained from using sunbeds. However, given the potentially serious consequences for people who used sunbeds, we concluded that the claims in the ads that sunbeds provided health benefits were irresponsible.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Responsible advertising).
4. Upheld
The ad further included the claim “Keeps your tan healthy”. As, explained above, given the potentially serious health consequences for people who used sunbeds we concluded that, as well as being misleading, the claim that the use of sunbeds was “healthy” was irresponsible.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Responsible advertising) and 3.1 (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Tanbox Towcester Ltd to ensure they did not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD). We told them to ensure their ads did not misleadingly or irresponsibly claim or imply that health benefits could be obtained from sunbeds, or that the use of sunbeds was healthy. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
