The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) published four rulings this week, including banning an ad from Stockport Counselling Services.
Seen in September 2024, the ad was challenged by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BCAP) for claiming therapist, Dawn Hazeldine, was a member of their organisation and was accredited by the body.
Hazeldine responded to the watchdog’s query, stating she had intended to remove the claim but could not access the website to do so.
According to the ASA, the ad must not appear again in its current form.
Plum Marketing
The regulator made a string of other rulings, including banning an advert for a magnetic building blocks toy set from Plum Marketing on Amazon.
It was challenged by Which?, the consumer protection group, on the basis that the listing was “irresponsible and harmful” because it featured images of young children playing with the product without adult supervision.
Text on the listing stated: “Learning & Development Building Blocks Toys Gift for 3–7-Year-Old Boys Girls”. The advert also contained warnings that the ad must be used with the supervision of an adult.
According to Plum Marketing, the images were appropriate because it was a children’s toy, and all the children photographed for the listing were of an appropriate age.
However, the ASA upheld the motion to ban the ad because the toys contained small magnets, which were not safe for young children. The regulator also believed the children featured in the photos were under three years old.
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Ideal World
An advertisement for Morphic Watches, which ran on a teleshopping presentation on Ideal World was banned by the ASA.
The ad was challenged on the basis that its claims about the watches’ RRP were misleading as the presentation claimed the items could retail “£1,800, £1,500, £1,200”.
Ideal World responded to the challenge, reporting that due to staff changes, they were unable to provide price comparison evidence. They provided examples of similar Morphic watches retailed on UK websites for £440 as of 12 January 2025 and were improving their training to ensure compliance with the BCAP Code.
However, the ASA banned the ad on the basis that it was misleading as consumers would understand that its claim “You can pay anywhere from to £1,800, £1,500, £1,200”, would mean Morphic Watches usually retailed for those prices.
Petchip Network
The ASA has ruled against two paid-for Google search ads for Petchip Network, an online microchip database.
The ads, seen in November 2024, were challenged by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), as they were concerned consumers would believe Petchip Network was an approved database for registering microchipped pets.
The ASA contacted Petchip Network, but they did not respond to the watchdog’s queries.
The body ruled the Google Search ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay) and must not appear again.
