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OFT warns consumers to wise up to misleading ads

PN 78/02     20 November 2002

The OFT today launched a campaign urging consumers to wise up to misleading advertisements and to beware of claims about 'miracle cure' health, beauty and slimming products.

Birds of a Feather star Linda Robson has lent her support to the OFT's campaign to alert consumers to unscrupulous advertisers who mislead consumers.

Misleading advertisements deceive or are likely to deceive by containing, for example, false promises about what their products can do, concealing or leaving out important facts or creating a false impression in any other way. The OFT is especially concerned about advertisements for health, beauty and slimming products which target vulnerable consumers and which may mislead them by promising:

• instant weight loss without reducing calorie intake
• 'miracle cures' for serious illnesses or other conditions such as baldness
• 'overnight transformations' as a result of using a product.

Last year the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) dealt with nearly 1200 complaints about health, beauty and slimming products. A worldwide sweep of the internet earlier this year identified over 1000 sites with potentially misleading advertising in the health sector. The market for slimming products alone was estimated to be worth £5.2 billion in 2001 and is forecast to reach £6.6 billion by 2006 (source: Key Note).

The ASA can seek the withdrawal of misleading advertisements; if that fails, trading standards departments and the OFT have powers to ask the courts to order an advertisement's withdrawal.

Launching the campaign, Penny Boys, Deputy Director General of Fair Trading, said:

'Advertising is a vital means of communicating with consumers and for making markets work well. Our campaign targets misleading advertising. The best way to prevent misleading advertisements is to help consumers not to fall for them.'

Today's campaign includes posters, key facts on the advertising industry and advertising controls and information in the form of tabloid newsletter, available free of charge to consumers, schools and trading standards departments.
Download the leaflet in pdf format (490 kb).
Download the poster in pdf format (59 kb).

OFT advice to consumers: wise up and make informed choices

Consumers can help protect themselves against misleading advertisements by:

• being wary of products or treatments that are advertised as a quick and effective cure-all for a wide range of ailments
• being cautious of testimonials claiming amazing results
• watching out for advertisers who use phrases such as 'overnight transformation', 'miraculous cure', and 'secret ingredient'
• consulting their pharmacist or other health professional before they buy
• complaining to their local trading standards department or the Advertising Standards Authority about advertisements which they believe could be misleading.

NOTES

1. The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988 (as amended) came into force on 20 June 1988 implementing an EC Directive on misleading advertising. The Regulations aim to protect the interests of consumers and businesses from misleading advertising – or advertisements that make prohibited comparisons. As a general guide advertising should not:

• contain a false statement of fact
• conceal or leave out certain kinds of important facts
• promise to do something – if there is no intention of carrying it out
• create a false impression, even if everything stated in it may be literally true.

'Advertisement' means any form of representation that is made in connection with a trade, business, craft or profession in order to promote the supply or transfer of goods or services, immovable property, rights or obligations.

Campaign materials can be ordered by calling 0870 60 60 321.   You can also download the leaflet in pdf format (490 kb), and the poster in pdf format (59 kb).

2. Most complaints about misleading non-broadcast advertisements are handled by the ASA and the trading standards service. The Independent Television Commission or the Radio Authority deal with those carried on commercial TV, cable and satellite services or on commercial radio, while bodies such as the Medicines Control Agency handle more specialised advertising complaints.

3. The role of the OFT under the Regulations is to support and reinforce existing controls and not to replace them. The Regulations give the OFT the power to step in if the public interest requires that the advertisements complained of should be stopped by means of a court injunction.

4. Trading Standards Services' share the OFT's powers – under the Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001 - to seek court orders to stop misleading advertising which harms the collective interest of consumers. They also enforce the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.

5. The ASA is responsible for supervising the system of self-regulation for non-broadcast advertising in the UK. If an advertisement is found to break the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion the ASA will ask the company to withdraw or change it. It is up to advertisers to prove any claims they make are capable of objective substantiation. The codes, devised by the Committee of Advertising Practice, cover most forms of non-broadcast advertising. The ASA's remit does not cover general product information on websites, but does include advertisements in paid-for space on-line including banner and pop-up ads, sales promotions anywhere on-line and commercial emails.

6. The British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion specify, for example, that slimming advertisements should not be directed at, or contain anything that will appeal particularly to anyone under 18. Advertisements should not contain general claims that precise amounts of weight can be lost within a stated period or that weight can be lost from specific parts of the body. Advertisers should also be able to show that their diet plans are nutritionally well balanced. Advertising claims made and marketing methods used by some manufacturers of slimming products have prompted numerous complaints to the ASA.

7. In this press release the functions of the Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) under the Regulations are for simplicity described as the functions of 'the OFT'. The Enterprise Act will replace the office of the DGFT with the OFT, to which the DGFT's functions will be transferred.

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