Who: Insulet International Limited t/a Omnipod, The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 21 May 2025
Law stated as at: 9 July 2025
What happened:
An ad for an insulin delivery system, Omnipod 5, has been deemed misleading by the ASA following a complaint that it included small print which was not legible and did not appear on screen for long enough.
The ad, which was shown on a video-on-demand (VOD) service, featured a woman wearing the Omnipod 5, accompanied by a voiceover. Safety warnings in small print appeared multiple times in the ad and a full page of text, which included general cautionary advice, was displayed at the end. The voiceover also directed viewers to the product’s website for further information on the risks.
Clearcast cleared the ad, finding that the small print was readable. In its response to the ASA, Clearcast argued that medical devices require a lot of information to be provided in small print and noted that viewers could pause the ad on the VOD service to read the text. It also said that neither the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) or its associated guidance mandates any time limit for qualifications appearing on a video on a VOD service.
The ASA disagreed, finding that the safety warnings constituted significant information for consumers, meaning that it had to be presented clearly and legibly. It also said that viewers should not be expected to pause the ad to read the qualifications. The ASA held that the text was too small to be clearly legible from a reasonable distance and did not remain on the screen for long enough, especially because of the large amount of it. As such, the ad was misleading, breaching rule 3.1 of the CAP Code. The qualifications were misleading as they were not presented clearly, breaching rule 3.10 of the CAP Code.
Why this matters:
The ruling serves as a reminder to advertisers of medical devices that the need to provide extensive information about their products does not diminish the requirement to make any qualifications legible and clear. Additionally, the ability to pause an ad on a VOD service does not mean that an advertiser can display relevant qualifications for a shorter amount of time than necessary for a consumer to read it.
