An advert for a luxury facial serum has been banned over misleading claims that it could make a person look ‘up to five years younger’.
The advert, by skincare brand Eucerin, for its Hyaluron-Filler Epigenetic Serum appeared at Balham Underground station last year, attracting a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The poster claimed the serum was “clinically proven” following a study of 160 people who used the product for four weeks before being asked how young they thought they looked.
The advertising watchdog said it had concerns over the study’s methodology and the self-reporting nature of it meant that results were subjective rather than clinically-proven.
"We had concerns about the study's methodology, including that there was no control group, nor was there information about how participants were recruited,” the ASA report read.
Beiersdorf, which owns the Eucerin brand, told the watchdog it presented the claim as ‘up to five years’ to reflect the absolute best result possible, not the typical result.
But the ASA said the study was carried out in a different country to the UK, meaning the results may differ.
It also said Beiersdorf provided three other pieces of unpublished research to support its claim, but each one of these had issues.
The final piece of evidence Beiersdorf submitted, a peer-reviewed study in to the active ingredient, did not include the serum.
The advert was therefore deemed misleading and cannot appear in the same form again.
Beiersdorf said the billboard was no longer live in the UK.
