The UK doesn’t want to hear Katy Perry and Justin Bieber talking about their zits-free Proactiv face anymore!
Both Katy’s TV commercial and Justin’s online promo for “America’s # 1 selling acne treatment system” were banned after the Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint.
According to the anonymous whistle blower, the ads are misleading because the UK version doesn’t have the same active ingredient as the US.
The watchdog group even asked Katy and Justin as well as other celebrity endorsers like Elle Macpherson and Avril Lavigne to define their experience using Proactiv, but the ASA still banned the ads because the product was only used for a few weeks.
The ASA explained:
“We considered the overall impression of the ads was that the celebrities were continued and regular users of Proactiv and noted the same endorsement claims were included on the US Proactiv website. We noted the signed statements, which related to only five of the seven testimonials, said the celebrities had each used the UK formulation of the product for a period of only several weeks, between one and three years before the ads appeared. We noted the ads were targeted at a UK audience and that the UK Proactiv products had a different active ingredient to the US version. In that context, we therefore considered the claims of continued use had not been substantiated. We concluded that the ads were misleading. The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Gunthy-Renker UK to ensure endorsements and testimonials in future ads related to the product being advertised.”
Well, guess that does it!
Misleading beauty goods are not the business, so we can completely understand why customers would be pissed.
Companies should accurately promote what they’re selling, or don’t sell it at all.
[Image courtesy of Proactiv.]
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