UK’s ASA bans Proactiv’s advertisement for skincare products

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advertisement by Proactiv Skin Health claiming it could encourage bullying.

The watchdog received four complaints saying the advert implied children might be bullied if they had bad skin and did not use the product.

The authority upheld the complaint and ruled that the advertisement must not appear in its current form around programmes that were made for children or likely to appeal to them.

In the advertisement, actress Jorgie Porter tearfully describes that she was bullied at high school due to spots on her face.

According to ASA, the advertisement shows the actress saying: “When nothing works, you're so sad and you just think 'well that's me now forever'. I was so, so happy when I discovered Proactiv+.”

Proactiv Skin Health said that the advertisement was the personal story and experience of one woman.

The firm further claims that it did not intend to imply that bullying and ridicule would occur if children did not use the product.

In a statement, ASA said: “We considered that the ads created a direct link between an incidence of bullying in her childhood as a result of her bad skin and a product she said had made her skin clearer, and that as a result the ads implied that children who had bad skin and did not use the product were likely to be bullied or ridiculed.”