Advertisment
On the homepage of the website the following information was provided.
“An evening of Botox with Dr. {Name Redacted}.
Chocolate Beauty & Laser Clinic present an evening of Botox with Dr. {Name Redacted}.
“Upcoming dates…”
“Botox 1 Area {Price Redacted}, 2 Areas {Price Redacted}, 3 Areas {Price Redacted}”.
Complaint
The advertising content came to the attention of the ASA via its monitoring programme.
The ASA Executive challenged whether the references to ‘Botox’ and ‘Botulinum toxin’ were compliant with the Code requirement that prescription only medicines may not be advertised to the public.
Response
The advertisers failed to provide a response.
Conclusion
Complaint upheld.
The Complaints Council expressed concern at the advertisers’ failure to respond to the ASA’s correspondence. They reminded them that there is an onus on advertisers to ensure that their advertising is in conformity with the Code.
The Council noted the advertisement had promoted a treatment using a prescription only medicine (‘Botox’), and that the Code required that “Prescription-only medicines may not be advertised to the public. In view of the fact that a prescription only medicine was advertised and in the absence of a response from the advertisers, the Council concluded that the advertisement was in breach of Code Sections 3.10 and 11.16.
Action Required:
The advertisement should not be published in the same format again.
The Council reminded the advertisers that the adjudication applied to all media.
