Uh Oh: ASA rap on the knuckles for Olay

Olay are the latest beauty brand to fall foul of Britain's Advertising Standards Authority, having a TV ad for their Regenerist cream banned by the ad watchdog. In it, beauty journalist Eve Cameron says "So if you're not ready for cosmetic injections, but want dramatically younger-looking skin, try Olay Regenerist with pentapeptides. Women who aren't ready for cosmetic injections constantly ask me to recommend a skin cream that really works. So I was excited when this study, revealed at the World Congress of Dermatology, showed that pentapeptides are effective in reducing the appearance of lines and wrinkles."

The ASA upheld the complaints of 46 viewers, deeming the ad to be misleading as they believed it implied that Regenerist could deliver the same results as cosmetic injections. The ASA also had a problem with the scientific validation cited, saying that the study had not shown that the levels of pentapeptides were sufficiently high to justify the claim that it reduced the appearance of lines and wrinkles, and concluded that Proctor & Gamble, who own Olay, had provided insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims.

In their defence, Proctor & Gamble claimed that they had not meant to draw a parallell between the results of Regenerist and cosmetic injections, or even put the two side by side. Huh. They probably shouldn't have talked about cosmetic injections in the same breath as the product, so...