Following the recent announcement of a ban on Botox advertising for treatment from the end of January, Cosmetic Couture has sought clarification from the Advertising Standards Authority.

In particular we wanted to know how this ban effects advertising training courses?

The advice is that for training courses the rule is “unlikely” to apply.

Here is the full advice:

“On the understanding that the product being advertised in your ad is a technical training course, and that consumers aren’t able to buy Botox injections from you, we think this rule is unlikely to apply. Provided the product being advertised is genuinely the training course we think it’s likely to be considered acceptable to refer to Botox in the context of ads for the course”.

However, although the advice is as above, there is a word of warning as follows:

“Although it is given by the CAP Copy Advice team in good faith, this advice does not bind CAP or the ASA, both of which might require you to provide evidence to substantiate your claims at a later date. Please note also that CAP has a regulatory role for many types of marketing communications. Our independence would be compromised if we were to endorse products or services and our advice should never be used for such purposes. You should be aware that, although it is designed to reflect the law, the Code does not cover marketers’ legal or other obligations, which remain their responsibility”.

Additional advice from training providers says they must include material information they consider to be important for prospective students. This includes requirements to get on the course, the nature and duration of training, what qualification one would expect to achieve and whether the course on offer meets the standards necessary for admittance onto a professional relevant register.

For the full guidance read here.

https://www.asa.org.uk/resource/enforcement-notice-training-courses.html