Ad description
A website, www.jiggle-fit.com, advertising vibration and oscillation machines, stated "A ten minute session is equivalent to an hours [sic] gym training burning at least 300 calories per session".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Jiggle Fit Ltd said they included the claim in their advertising as this was what they were told by the supplier of the machines. They also said numerous similar suppliers and businesses featured the same claims in their advertising. They cited an extract from a website selling a similar product that stated the machines used 'advanced vibration technology' that used acceleration training to create instability in the body, forcing the body to perform reflexive muscle actions, multiple times per second, leading to a more efficient ten-minute workout that was equivalent to an hour of resistance based gym training.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that Jiggle Fit Ltd had included the claim "A ten minute session is equivalent to an hours [sic] gym training burning at least 300 calories per session" in their advertising as a result of advice from the supplier and on the understanding that similar products were marketed in the same way. However, we also noted that Jiggle Fit Ltd had not provided any supporting studies or other evidence in support of the claim. We understood that consumers would understand from the claim that the same benefits could be gained from using one of the advertised machines for ten minutes as by training at the gym for one hour, including burning at least 300 calories, and because we had not seen any evidence to prove this, we concluded that the claim was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) and 13.1 13.1 A weight-reduction regime in which the intake of energy is lower than its output is the most common self-treatment for achieving weight reduction. Any claim made for the effectiveness or action of a weight-reduction method or product must be backed, if applicable, by rigorous trials on people; testimonials that are not supported by trials do not constitute substantiation. and 13.4 13.4 Before they make claims for a weight-reduction aid or regimen, marketers must show that weight-reduction is achieved by loss of body fat. Combining a diet with an unproven weight-reduction method does not justify making weight-reduction claims for that method. (Weight control and slimming).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Jiggle Fit Ltd not to make claims for the efficacy of their product unless they held robust substantiation to support them.
