The Advertising Standards Authority has banned four Turkish clinics for a total of five paid-for Facebook ads for ‘irresponsible’ and ‘unsubstantiated’ marketing.
The adverts – which varied from hair transplant procedures to full body ‘mommy makeovers’ – were banned for, among other reasons, exploiting insecurities around body images.
One advert from ‘Grand Clinic’ offered a special promotional discount for ‘3 Areas Liposuction – Tummy Tuck – Breast Lift’, and was accompanied by a photo of a woman dressed in a bikini with superimposed text reading “MOMMY MAKEOVER”.
It also featured an urgent call to action with text that stated “Special Offer For This Month” and “Grab this opportunity!”.
The ASA deemed this reference pressured consumers into purchasing surgery, while the overall ad exploited women and mothers’ potential insecurities around body image.
Combined with the ad misleadingly omitting information regarding the need for a pre-consultation to assess the potential suitability of the procedures, the ASA declared the ads socially irresponsible and told the clinic to not run the ad again.
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The other cosmetic clinics employed similar marketing tactics in their Facebook advert: One surgery, GET DHI Hair Clinic, used cartoon imagery of a man that misleadingly exaggerated the effectiveness of hair transplant procedures.
Referencing “99% successful results”, the ASA ruled its claims couldn’t be substantiated and alongside promotional deals and call to action – text that stated “DHI HAIR TRANSPLANT”, “HOTEL + VIP TRANSFER £1.350” and “APPLY NOW Promotion valid in May” – the ads trivialised the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery.
The three other adverts, two from Clinicexpert Hospital and another from Aestheal Clinic, featured similar ‘exploitative’ calls to action, promotional deals and body-shaming imagery which the ASA declared as pressurising UK consumers into misleading and invasive surgery.
It is not the first time the ASA has banned a series of adverts from Turkish cosmetic clinics -last month it removed a further three adverts from Turkish clinics displaying misleading marketing tactics.
The UK advertising watchdog’s clampdown on these ads follows in the wake of an increasing number of UK citizens reporting the life-changing and sometimes fatal, consequences of travelling abroad for “budget surgery”.
Earlier this year, Aimee Hunt took to This Morning to raise awareness of the risks after her sister, Sophie Hunt, passed away in Turkey following a botched tummy tuck.
