Commercial could mislead consumers into thinking two times Open winner had eye surgery with Optical Express, rules ASA
The advertising watchdog has banned a TV commercial by Optical Express featuring two times golf Open winner Padraig Harrington for misleading consumers into thinking his game had benefited from laser eye surgery, when he had never undergone the procedure with the company.
Optical Express ran a TV campaign and accompanying brochure promoting the benefits of its laser eye surgery featuring the Irish golfer.
In the ad he says: "People often ask me: how can I improve my game? I tell them the secret is to stay focused. And of course it's important to have great vision. I need to be able to look down the line, focusing clearly on the target. My advice? Visit Optical Express ? It could help your game too."
The brochure featured a further endorsement and testimonial by Harrington.
The Advertising Standards Authority had previously upheld 23 of 25 complaints made against the campaign by rival laser eye surgery firm Ultralase and banned the ad on the grounds that it was misleading.
Two of the complaints challenged that the ad campaign indicated Harrington had undergone laser eye surgery, when Ultralase claimed he had not undergone surgery with Optical Express.
Optical Express called for an official review of all 25 complaints and said the ad was an endorsement of laser eye surgery in general by Harrington who "extolled the benefits of laser eye surgery for a professional golfer and advised that customers who might want the same benefits from laser eye surgery should visit Optical Express".
Optical Express claimed the ad did not "relate, or in any way concern, any claim made by Mr Harrington as to the place where he had undergone laser eye surgery or the provider who undertook that surgery".
The company said there was "no ambiguity, misleading content or impression, implication or innuendo in the ad".
Optical Express's argument was the use of Harrington was simply to convey the idea that good vision is needed to play golf and Optical Express offers laser eye surgery.
The ad watchdog said the testimonial and the TV ad were both misleading as they conveyed the idea that Harrington ? who has had laser eye surgery, but not with Optical Express ? had experienced the benefits of the procedure with that particular company.
The ASA reiterated its earlier ruling upholding 23 of the 25 complaints made by Ultralase and banned the TV ad.
"This is a crushing blow for Optical Express," said Nina Best, an advertising law specialist at law firm Browne Jacobson. "At the time the company took a major risk to challenge the ASA's decision. The decision to challenge has given rival eyecare business Ultralase more publicity than it could have bargained for in the first place."
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/17/padraig-harrington-tv-ad-banned
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