Watchdog bites again over mascara ads

Rimmel has become the latest cosmetics brand to be censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for using false eyelashes in a television advertisement for its mascara.

The ad, which features Kate Moss, has been banned after the watchdog failed to obtain evidence from advertising agency JWT that Moss was not wearing false eyelashes.

The ASA says it was also concerned that JWT said it had retouched the lashes in post production, but had not provided data clarifying the extent to which that had altered the appearance of the lashes. The watchdog has also challenged whether Rimmel can substantiate its claim that the mascara provides 70% more lash lift.

The ban comes just months after L’Oréal was rapped for exaggerating the effects of its mascara (MW July 26), as well as Avon for using the same tactic (MW September 6).

• The ASA has also criticised an Innocent press campaign for its Superfoods Smoothies, which shows a bottle of the product in a field with the strapline “Acai comes from a tree, not a laboratory”.
  The ad, created by Lowe, claims the Superfoods Smoothie “contains even more antioxidants than the average five a day”. The ASA says not enough evidence was provided to substantiate the claim. Innocent says it has no plans to use the ad again or to make similar claims.
• Meanwhile, the watchdog has not upheld complaints against a television advertisement for the NHS anti-smoking campaign. The ad, created by Farm, showed a woman lighting a cigarette at a wedding reception, with children and adults inhaling the smoke. The voiceover says: “Second-hand smoke, the invisible killer.”Complainants said the ad was an unjustified appeal to fear.