Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Beauty Boutique Aesthetics, Queen of Aesthetics and Faces by AKJ Aesthetics
Where: United Kingdom
When: 25 September 2019
Law stated as at: 14 October 2019
What happened:
The ASA banned three adverts for cosmetic fillers on Instagram by the following three salons: Beauty Boutique Aesthetics, Queen of Aesthetics and Faces by AKJ Aesthetics.
Beauty Boutique Aesthetics
The Beauty Boutique Aesthetics advert implied that Beauty Boutique Aesthetics’ staff had the necessary training to administer emergency drugs in the event that a client suffered an adverse reaction to i5ts fillers. The ASA contacted Beauty Boutique Aesthetics, but the salon did not respond. The ASA therefore deemed that the claim was misleading, as there was no evidence to substantiate the claim.
The advert also contained two references to Botox: “When someone is listing the reasons they don’t need Botox & all you can think about is how many units they need” and “#botox”. Botox is a prescription-only medicine, and advertising or promoting it (beyond the provision of factual information) is a breach of the CAP Code. The ASA banned the ad accordingly.
Instagram stated that it does not allow ads promoting Botox, and has recently introduced a new policy, restricting organic posts promoting the use of cosmetic procedures to over 18s.
Faces by AKJ Aesthetics
The Faces by AKJ Aesthetics advert was also banned for promoting Botox.
The advert offered the cosmetic procedure as a competition prize, and included statements such as “COMPETITION TIME” and “Go!”, which the ASA deemed might urge consumers to enter the competition without serious consideration of having the procedure. The ASA concluded that the advert irresponsibly offered a cosmetic procedure as a competition and that it therefore breached the CAP Code.
The photo in the advert of Kylie Jenner with arrows pointing to her lips, cheek and jawline, labelled with corresponding cosmetic procedures, together with the statement in the advert ““WIN THE KYLIE PACKAGE”, implied that consumers would achieve similar results to those of Kylie Jenner. The ASA considered that the photo did not accurately represent what could be achieved through use of the advertised cosmetic procedures, and deemed the advert to be misleading.
Queen of Aesthetics
The Queen of Aesthetics advert included a photo of Kylie Jenner with the text “Kylie Jenner Package. 1ml lips 1ml cheeks 1ml jawline”” and “My most popular package #kyliepackage”. The ASA banned the ad for misleading consumers by suggesting the package would give customers lips, cheeks and jawline that closely resembled those of Kylie Jenner. The ASA also warned Queen of Aesthetics not to suggest celebrities had used their products if they hadn’t.
Why this matters:
These decisions highlight that businesses must not:
- advertise prescription-only medicines such as Botox;
- suggest that celebrities have used the advertised products if they haven’t;
- mislead consumers by suggesting that the advertised products would have effects that are not substantiated;
- offer a cosmetic procedure as a competition.
