Salon gets fat lip for Botox ad

At last a victory for trout mouth loathers after a Nottingham beauty salon has been slapped down for running a Facebook promotion offering a free course of Botox.
Venus Beauty Lounge thought it was a good idea to offer the treatments in return for 3,500 Facebook likes, even though it is a prescription-only drug.
The promotion stated: “Giving away one treatment of the winners choice at 3500 likes. 3 area of Botox or lip filler worth £175 each. What you need to do. 1 – Like the page venus beauty lounge page not this post remember. 2 – share (so its on your wall. 3 – put your full name so we can find you. Good luck winner picked at 3,500.”
A separate offer said: “Have lips and botox at the same time for £325. Saving £25 or naso folds and botox at the same time for £340 Saving £35 [sic]”.
Just one person rifled off a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, sparking an investigation.
In its defence, Venus Beauty Lounge claimed that the competition winner would have a consultation with a GP before the treatment and that the beautician was qualified to adminster Botox.
Pleading ignorance that it was prohibited to promote or advertise Botox, the firm pulled both ads down, and Facebook also said it had removed the page because it violated its terms.
In a classic case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, the ASA banned the ads from running again, but did at least warn Venus Beauty Lounge not to advertise Botox again.