My Aesthetics, the founders of Mybreast.org.uk, said the ad, created by Meerkat Marketing, intended to demonstrate the experience and qualification of its surgeons, who were leaders in the field.
It provided information on the professional standing and activities of its founders. It also gave details on its implant supplier and its warranty.
MyBreast said its level of consistency, aftercare and quality made it "leaders" in the cosmetic surgery sector.
The Radio Advertising Clearance Centre believed listeners would infer the claim to mean the company was at the forefront of the industry in terms of development of procedures, quality of care and service and support. It did not feel the ad was likely to mislead.
However, the ASA backed the complaint by rival company Transform. It said listeners would understand the claim "leaders in cosmetic surgery" to be comparative, implying that MyBreast offered a greater range or number of procedures than its competitors.
On this point it found it likely to mislead and ruled that it must not be broadcast again in its current form.
Cosmetic surgery ad slammed by regulator
by Hadassah Nymark, campaignlive.co.uk, 18 November 2009, 00:06am
LONDON - The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a radio ad for the cosmetic surgery group MyBreast after a rival challenged its claim to be "leaders in cosmetic surgery here in the UK".
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MyBreast radio Ad.mp3
All Comments
Fred Perkins - 18 November 2009
Save us all... ASA is rapidly getting to a stage where ANY comparative statement or superlative adjective is disallowed in any advertisement.
Can't we give the public credit for having even a tiny amount of common sense, and able to recognise that advertising superlatives are always to be taken with a pinch of salt???
Maybe ASA will only be happy when advertising is reduced to "Hi. We're here. Buy us"
Oh, but maybe even that is disallowed, cos someone could argue that they didn't know us, so we can't say "we're here...".
Chris Worsley - 18 November 2009
the ASA seems to be aping the FA at times. I find it almost impossible to second guess which way they will rule in any given case - reasonable concerns are overruled and fairly dumb complaints are upheld.
Some consistency please?
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