Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and ZING Oral Care Ltd t/a ZING Toothpaste (ZING Toothpaste)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 11 February 2026
Law stated as at: 5 March 2026
What happened
ZING Toothpaste published three paid-for social media ads promoting toothpaste with different flavours. The ads featured five-star ratings, presented as five white stars in green squares, similar to the appearance of Trustpilot’s star rating, and a range of text setting out customer review information. The first ad, seen on 2 November 2025, stated “Loved by 67,000+ UK customers”, and the second and third ads, seen on 3 November 2025 and 5 November 2025, included the text “Excellent”, “Based on 13,183 reviews”.
A complainant challenged whether the ads were misleading, on the basis that ZING Toothpaste did not have the number of reviews stated in the ads, or a five-star rating on Trustpilot.
ZING Toothpaste responded, stating that when the ads were created, the Trustpilot rating and number of reviews were accurate. The company later moved to a new review software provider, a change that caused its original Trustpilot reviews and five-star rating to disappear, and of which it was unaware. ZING Toothpaste said that since the change of review provider it had received over 1,000 reviews, 85% of which were five-star. It therefore believed that the rating displayed in the ads accurately reflected customer feedback.
The ASA upheld the complaint and concluded that the ads were misleading. The ASA highlighted the similarities between the format of the five white stars used in the ads and Trustpilot’s star rating, as well as the company’s use of the text “Excellent”, which Trustpilot displays for companies with a star rating above 4.3. The ASA concluded that the presence of five stars alongside the claims “Excellent” and “Loved by” with a reference to the number of reviews and UK customers in the ads would lead consumers to believe that the company’s rating on the Trustpilot website was based on the number of reviews set out in the ads (that is, over 67,000 UK customers for the first ad and over 13,000 customer reviews for the second and third ads).
However, as of 18 September 2025, ZING Toothpaste had 67 reviews on its Trustpilot page, with a star rating of 4.2 (“Great”). On 13 November 2025, it had 82 reviews on its Trustpilot page, with a star rating of 4.2 (“Great”). The ASA therefore considered that ZING Toothpaste’s Trustpilot ratings did not substantiate the ratings used in the ads. Additionally, ZING Toothpaste did not provide any additional data to prove that the ratings used in the ads were genuine.
Why this matters
This ruling reinforces that star ratings and review data used in advertising must be accurate, verifiable, up to date and properly substantiated. Businesses cannot rely on historical data that no longer reflects their live review profile, and must ensure that all consumer review information displayed on their sites and in their ads is current and supported by robust evidence.
