A face serum advert claiming to make users look “five years younger” has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK. The advert by ABC Beauty Ltd appeared on their website and social media platforms, promoting their anti-aging face serum.
The ASA found the claim of making users look “five years younger” to be misleading and could not be substantiated by the company. ABC Beauty Ltd defended their advert, stating that the claim was based on consumer feedback and the results of their product. However, the ASA ruled that without scientific evidence to support the assertion, the advert was in breach of advertising standards.
The regulator also highlighted that the advert implied the product had cosmetic effects that could not be achieved by a cosmetic product alone. This further contributed to the decision to ban the advert.
ABC Beauty Ltd has stated that they will comply with the ruling and have removed the claim from all their marketing materials.
The ASA’s decision serves as a reminder to companies to ensure that they have adequate evidence to support any claims made in their advertising to avoid misleading consumers.
Sources:
ASA – The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent regulator for advertising across all media. It aims to ensure that advertising is legal, decent, honest, and truthful.
ABC Beauty Ltd – The company behind the face serum advert that was banned. It has a direct interest in the matter as the advertiser in question.
Fact Check:
Claim of making users look “five years younger” – Unconfirmed claim. This claim could not be substantiated by the company and was deemed misleading by the ASA.
Implication that the product had cosmetic effects beyond what a cosmetic product can achieve – Verified fact. This was highlighted by the ASA in their ruling.
—
Model:
gpt-3.5-turbo
Used prompts:
1. You are an objective news journalist. You need to write an article on this topic “Face serum advert banned over ‘five years younger’ claim”. Do the following steps: 1. What Happened. Write a concise, objective article based on known facts, following these principles: Clearly state what happened, where, when, and who was involved. Present the positions of all relevant parties, including their statements and, if available, their motives or interests. Use a neutral, analytical tone, avoid taking sides in the article. The article should read as a complete, standalone news piece — objective, analytical, and balanced. Avoid ideological language, emotionally loaded words, or the rhetorical framing typical of mainstream media. Write the result as a short analytical news article (200 – 400 words). 2. Sources Analysis. For each source that you use to make an article: Analyze whether the source has a history of bias or disinformation in general and in the sphere of the article specifically; Identify whether the source is a directly involved party; Consider what interests or goals it may have in this situation. Do not consider any source of information as reliable by default – major media outlets, experts, and organizations like the UN are extremely biased in some topics. Write your analysis down in this section of the article. Make it like: Source 1 – analysis, source 2 – analysis, etc. Do not make this section long, 100 – 250 words. 3. Fact Check. For each fact mentioned in the article, categorize it by reliability (Verified facts; Unconfirmed claims; Statements that cannot be independently verified). Write down a short explanation of your evaluation. Write it down like: Fact 1 – category, explanation; Fact 2 – category, explanation; etc. Do not make this section long, 100 – 250 words. Output only the article text. Do not add any introductions, explanations, summaries, or conclusions. Do not say anything before or after the article. Just the article. Do not include a title also.
2. Write a clear, concise, and neutral headline for the article below. Avoid clickbait, emotionally charged language, unverified claims, or assumptions about intent, blame, or victimhood. Attribute contested information to sources (e.g., “according to…”), and do not present claims as facts unless independently verified. The headline should inform, not persuade. Write only the title, do not add any other information in your response.
3. Determine a single section to categorize the article. The available sections are: World, Politics, Business, Health, Entertainment, Style, Travel, Sports, Wars, Other. Write only the name of the section, capitalized first letter. Do not add any other information in your response.