Misleading weight loss advert banned
The internet ad for jennysweightlosssuccess.com has been banned
Wednesday, 04, Nov 2009 09:12
By Richard James.
An advert for a weight loss technique promising the loss of 4lbs of stomach fat in a week has been banned after being found to be misleading.
The internet ad for jennysweightlosssuccess.com featured a "before and after" photograph of a woman who had lost a significant amount of weight.
The advert also featured the tagline: "'1 Rule to a Flat Stomach: Obey' I cut down 4lbs of stomach fat per week by obeying this 1 old rule. Click Here to Read My Story".
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint challenging whether the ad was in fact misleading as it implied the subject of the before photograph, who the complainant understood was known from TV appearances, had lost weight using the advertisers method.
The ASA was then led to question whether indeed weight loss of 4lbs a week is compatible with good medical and nutritional practice, and the reference to weight loss from a specific part of the body was a breach of the advertising code.
Jennysweightlosssuccess.com failed to respond to the watchdog's queries as part of its deliberations on the advert.
In its ruling, the ASA said it was concerned by jennyweightlosssuccess.com's lack of response and apparent disregard for the advertising code.
"We noted the advertiser had not sent any evidence to show that the subject in the ad had lost weight as a result of using their method. In the absence of that evidence, we concluded the ad was likely to mislead," the adjudication stated.
The ASA also declared the advert was irresponsible for the promotion of weight loss greater than 2 lbs per week.
"We had seen no evidence to demonstrate that the advertisers' weight loss method was suitable for, or only available to the obese, and had seen no evidence to demonstrate how a loss of 4lbs per week could be compatible with good nutritional and medical practice," the statement declares.
The advertising code also prohibits ads from making reference to weight loss from a specific part of the body.
As a result, the ASA ruled the advert must not appear again in its current form.