Finance watchdog outruns ASA to ban John Lewis ad

The financial services watchdog has shown it has a sharper teeth – and faster legs – than its advertising counterpart after forcing John Lewis to pull its controversial home insurance ad off air due to misleading claims.

The ad, created by Adam & Eve DDB and launched a fortnight ago, featured a nine-year-old boy dressed up in his mother’s clothes, jewellery, shoes and make-up, creating a trail of destruction as he “dances” throughout his home.

It was designed to promote John Lewis Home Insurance accidental cover, however, it sparked nearly 400 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The vast majority were concerned that it sexualised a child; many others complained that the insurance policy was unlikely to pay up for such actions as it seemed to portray willful damage.

But before the ASA could launch an investigation, the Financial Conduct Authority has intervened, ruling the content of the ad to be potentially misleading and could confuse customers about the insurance.

In a statement, John Lewis & Partners said: “You may have seen our ‘Let life happen’ advert for our new home contents insurance offering which ran between 11 and 27 October 2021. This advert has been withdrawn because the FCA considers the content to be potentially misleading and could cause customers to be confused about John Lewis’ new home contents insurance offering.

“This was absolutely never our intention. The advert was created to show a joyful depiction of a young actor getting carried away with his performance, oblivious of the unintentional consequences of his actions.

“We would like to clarify that accidental damage cover is available as an add-on to John Lewis’s new home contents insurance product and only covers accidental (not deliberate) damage.”

The company said it had contacted every customer who purchased the home contents insurance cover during the campaign to confirm they understood these points and “are happy with their purchase”.

An FCA spokesman said: “Financial services firms’ marketing must be clear, fair and not misleading.”