L’Oréal-owned cosmetics brand Garnier has been left red-faced after a high-profile marketing campaign for its Vitamin Cg Serum has been slapped down for failing to substantiate claims that the product could “reduce hyperpigmentation in 2 weeks”.
The company, which uses the “By Garnier, Naturally” slogan to reinforce the brand’s focus on harnessing nature through botanical ingredients, sparked an Advertising Standards Authority investigation following a single complaint which challenged whether the claim could be backed up.
At the heart of the dispute was a qualifier in the ad stating that “72% of 111 women agree”. Garnier later admitted to the ASA that this figure was an “inaccurate” error. The percentage actually referred to a subjective consumer perception study rather than the objective clinical trial required to support a “clinically proven” claim.
The ASA’s assessment of the actual clinical data provided – a 10-week study involving 44 subjects – revealed further systemic flaws, including the fact that the sample size was too small to be considered “clinically robust” for a mass-market product, while the methodology was criticised for failing to clearly explain how participants were randomised into treatment and control groups.
Environmental factors also played a role in the ban. The ASA noted that the trial was conducted in a climate significantly hotter and sunnier than the UK, with a skin-type distribution that did not accurately represent the typical British consumer base. Consequently, the results could not be reliably applied to the ad’s target audience.
The ASA concluded that the campaign breached industry codes regarding misleading advertising and substantiation and ordered Garnier to pull the advertisement immediately.
The company was also warned against making future “clinically proven” claims without providing rigorous, representative evidence and told it must ensure consumer perception data is never conflated with clinical results.
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