ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has banned a TV ad for Rimmel London Scandaleyes Reloaded mascara after ruling that it “misleadingly exaggerated the likely effects of the product” by using lash inserts and post-production enhancement.

The TV ad was banned after ASA received a complaint that challenged whether the ad misleadingly exaggerated the likely effects of the product.

The advert, which features model and actress Cara Delevigne, was originally launched in December last year and includes depictions of the product being applied to eye lashes and Delevigne wearing the mascara.

The ASA considered that consumers were likely to understand from the product name, Scandaleyes Reloaded mascara, along with the voice-over description: "New max-density brush for clump free lashes. Extreme volume", particularly in conjunction with the visuals, to mean that after application, eyelashes would appear thicker and fuller.

Rimmel London parent company Coty UK Ltd defended the advert and denied it was misleading, saying that lash inserts had been used only to create a uniform lash line, and not to mislead or exaggerate the product’s effects. Furthermore, Coty said that some lashes had been re-drawn post-production to make them more visible against the model’s dark eye make-up, but they had not been lengthened or thickened

However, after assessing before and after photos provided by Coty, ASA ruled that the lashes did look longer and thicker after lash inserts and post-production re-drawing, and therefore concluded that the ad was misleading and must not be shown again in its current form.

The ASA ruling stated: “Because the ad conveyed a volumising, lengthening and thickening effect of the product we considered the use of lash inserts and the post-production technique were likely to exaggerate the effect beyond what could be achieved by the product among consumers.”