A face cream TV advertisement of American pharmaceutical and medical devices company Johnson & Johnson has been banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority for employing “after” shots for achieving blemish-less skin. Johnson & Johnson claimed that their Clean and Clear Spot Control Kit will reduce spots and redness and render much clearer skin after just four weeks. The advertisement was created by DDB London and stated that the cream was tried on by thirty girls whose before and after shots were taken, those which had a lot of visible difference.
A voice over in the ad stated “A clinical study showed 100% of people had improvement in just one day.” The ASA supposedly received two complaints questioning the ad’s statement that similar to the models in the “before and after” photographs, the users can achieve visible changes using the cream. Johnson & Johnson said that the girls used in the advertisement were all over 16 years of age and were neither actresses nor models and that in all the “before” shots the girls had nothing but eye-make up on.
However, the company did admit to using “light powder” for the “after” shots to apparently remove the “shine from the T-zone”. They also maintained that the shots stood for the actual results that can be achieved using their product. The ASA did not seem convinced, for they maintained that there was a marked difference in the make-up of the skin in both the shots.
