UK authority bans Reebok EasyTone advert
02/12/2010
The television advert featured women walking, dancing, jumping, spinning around and standing, with the camera fixed on their bottoms, legs and trainers. The voice-over stated: “Reebok EasyTone. Helps tone legs and bum more than regular trainers. Reebok EasyTone with balanced ball inspired technology. Better legs and better bum with every step.”
Text in a magazine advert said: “Get up to 28% more of a workout for your bum. And up to 11% more for your hamstrings and calves”. Underneath was an outline of a woman with the text “28% gluteus maximus”, “11% hamstrings” and “11% calves” written next to the corresponding parts of her body.
Two complainants challenged whether the efficacy claims for the product were misleading and could be substantiated. The ASA noted that the claims in both adverts were based on the results of an unpublished study carried out on behalf of Reebok, which assessed muscle activity whilst wearing EasyTone trainers. The results of the study supported the percentage claims in the magazine advert, but the ASA stated that the small sample size of participants was “not adequate to support the absolute claims made in the ads that consumers would achieve an improvement in muscle tone”.
A statement from the ASA said: “Because we considered that we had not seen robust, scientific evidence to support the efficacy claims made in the magazine ad or the TV ad, we concluded that the claims had not been substantiated and were therefore misleading.”
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