The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has not upheld a complaint about a skin care TV advert which proposed that the founder’s alleged use of Botox was misleading.
The ad for My Perfect Cosmetics Company’s home-use skin treatment My Perfect Facial featured the product’s creator, Penny Lane.
In the ad, she stated: “When you look in the mirror do you see areas you'd like to improve? When you decide to take the steps to improve the appearance of your skin you have many options available to you. The salon, injections, maybe even surgery, but let me show you another option. My Perfect Facial is a salon-inspired three-step treatment … It contains ingredients proven to help improve the appearance of your skin, including BHAs and marine algae.”
The promotion further featured consumer reviews and testimonials, as well as video clips of consumers talking positively about their experiences with the featured products.
Before and after images of consumers who’d used the products were also shown.
The complainant, who believed Lane had used Botox, challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the appearance of her skin was due to the featured products.
However, the ASA did not find the ad to be misleading or an exaggeration.
It said it acknowledged that, as the creator of the product and through her appearance in the ad, some viewers might infer that Lane used My Perfect Facial and some might also question whether it was solely responsible for the appearance of her skin.
But it also noted that the founder made no explicit claim in the ad to have used the products to achieve the appearance of her own skin, nor was she featured demonstrating or using the product in the ad.
It added that the ASA was unaware of any public accounts indicating that Lane’s appearance was the result of surgical work.
Because it considered viewers would understand the main focus of the ad was on consumers’ experiences rather than on Lane specifically, the ASA concluded that the ad had not misleadingly implied that the appearance of Lane’s skin was due to the featured products – therefore it had not breached the BCAP Code.