ASA ruling on hair care advertisement

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against L’Oréal (UK) Ltd in relation to a video-on-demand advertisement that claimed the product could reduce hyperpigmentation within 2 weeks. The ASA found that the claim could not be substantiated based on a clinical trial and a published paper.

The advertisement contained a model holding the product and then using on her skin. Alongside this, a voice-over stating, “Dark spots? Take one brighter step with new Garnier Vitamin Cg Serum. Now with a 4% active concentration, clinically proven to reduce hyperpigmentation in 2 weeks. 99% agree skin is glowing.”  The advert also contained small text at the bottom with the wording, “72% of 111 women agree. Clinical study, 44 subjects 10 weeks”.

In their response to the ASA, L’Oréal (UK) Ltd t/a Garnier stated that the qualification “72% of 111 women agree” was, by error, inaccurate and therefore could have led to confusion between subjective and objective claims. They stated that the qualifier would not appear in further advertisements. L’Oréal (UK) Ltd further added that the product formulation contained niacinamide, ascorbyl glucoside (Vitamin Cg) and Melasyl (a patented molecule), which were known for their anti-pigmentation effects and provided a clinical study to substantiate the claim, along with a published paper on Melasyl.

The ASA found that the claim was misleading and 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).