Truthful Adverts?

[lankeela]

I thought the Advertising Standards Authority said advert have to be honest and truthful - how can they get away with such adverts as the Ariel one where they are supposed to be in a 'shop' buying shirts that have been stained and washed? Or the make up ones where they set up 'pop up shops' and people walking past are offered make overs or the one in the school or the women who have their mirrors taken away while they use the product? How can they expect us to believe they are real?

[wolf63]

I think that any description or claim relating to the product must be honest, correct etc.

All the rest is there as 'window dressing'.

[Buenchico]

The content of an ad doesn't have to be true. (e.g.. Skeletor doesn't have to dance down the street in real life). It's only the end claims of an ad (e.g. "washes whiter than any other product", "cheapest on the market" or "kills all known germs") which have to be provable.

Full code here:
https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes/broadcast-code.html

[Jackdaw33]

Anyone who has ever studied law, no matter how much they have forgotten, will always remember two or three cases. One of these is Cahill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1896) which established an important point of Contract Law. Basically, the company advertised their product claiming that it was a sure guarantee against catching 'flu and offered £100 (£10,000 in today's money) to anyone who caught 'flu after using it. Mrs Cahill bought one then later contracted 'flu. On her recovery she claimed the £100. The company refused to pay up, claiming it was only an advertising gimmick. The matter went all the way to the House of Lords, where Mrs Cahill won her case. Advertisers, beware.