ASA Ruling on Imiracle (HK) Ltd t/a Elfbar

A post on a social media platform promoting Elf Bar, an e-cigarette brand, was challenged by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The post appeared on Elf Bar’s server with a 5% discount code. UK regulations clearly prohibit online advertising of e-cigarettes but allow a manufacturer to provide factual product information such as the name, content and price of the product on its own websites. The ASA concluded that the information on Elf Bar’s server was not accessible to, or otherwise shared with, other users unless they had joined that server. Because the content in the server could only be found by those actively seeking it, the ASA considered the server a non-paid-for online space under the marketer’s control analogous to a website. Therefore, factual claims about nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components were permitted in that space. Notwithstanding that, the ASA found that the discount code in the ad was promotional in nature in that it went beyond factual descriptions of Elf Bar’s products. The ASA ordered that the ad not appear again in the form complained about.

ASA Ruling on Imiracle (HK) Ltd t/a Elfbar, Messaging app, Complaint Ref: A23-1196835 (2023).

  • United Kingdom
  • Oct 18, 2023
  • Advertising Standards Authority
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Parties

Plaintiff Unidentified complainant

Defendant Imiracle (HK) Ltd t/a Elfbar

Legislation Cited

Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016

CAP Code

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

None

Type of Tobacco Product

"The advertised discount applied to all products on the Elf Bar UK website, the Official Elf Bar Online Vape Store, and we understood that a range of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components were available on that site. We therefore considered the ad had the direct effect of promoting nicotine-containing e-cigarette products which were not licensed as medicines. Because promotional claims for nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were not permitted in online media, we concluded the ad breached the Code. We welcomed Elf Bar’s assurance that they had removed the ad."