www.Nivea.com

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), the supervisory authority for advertising and marketing in the UK, has deemed a magazine advert for Nivea anti-ageing cream to be misleading and has banned its diffusion in its current format.

Appearing in British magazine a few months ago, the advert in question claimed that users of the day cream “DNAge Cell Renewal” from Nivea (a brand from German cosmetics manufacturer Beiersdorf) could “'face the future with firmer skin'', but without clearly explaining that the cream did not have a permanent visible effect.

In addition, the advert asserted that “126 women agreed” with this statement, but without indicating how many, in total, had tried the anti-ageing cream, which did not allow readers to gauge the products effectiveness, according to the Advertising Standards Agency.

On the other hand, the ASA, which was alerted by consumers to the advertising in April, did not find fault with the reference to DNA or to ‘cell renewal’ in the name of the cream, as the text of the advert removed any ambiguity on the subject.

Beiersdorf, whilst always claiming that it had acted in good faith, agreed to amend the advertisement to conform to recommendations made by the ASA.

This is not the first time that the ASA, a regulatory body put in place by the British marketing industry, has taken up a case with a prestigious cosmetics manufacturer.
In 2007 the authority took issue with publicity for a mascara from French group L’Oréal as Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, who was posing for the product, was wearing false eyelashes. Similarly the ASA found fault with competitor Rimmel, whose campaign featured model Kate Moss, because they suspected that the accompanying announcement to an advert had “exaggerated the benefits” of the product.

By Jonathan Fulwell (Source: AFP)