An ad for the National Health Service smoke-free campaign claimed that “every 15 cigarettes you smoke will cause a mutation,” which is how cancer starts. In response to a number of complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the claim and found that it was backed by scientific evidence and was not likely to be misleading. Therefore, the ASA found that the ad did not violate the country’s advertising code.
ASA Adjudication on Department of Health, Complaint Ref: A13-218177 (2014).
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
"The ASA acknowledged that The DH had provided a range of peer-reviewed papers. We took expert advice. We noted that the papers supported higher mutation rates among smokers versus non-smokers. We noted that not all the papers presented discussed smoking and the linear dose response relationship used to calculate mutation accumulation. However, we were satisfied that the papers indicated that a broadly linear dose-response relationship between mutations and cigarette smoking existed. We considered the selection of estimated mutation rates per cigarette smoked derived from the whole genome sequencing data in the papers. ... Because the ad made a conservative claim, which was supported by the evidence, we concluded that the ad was substantiated and unlikely to mislead."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
An ad for the National Health Service smoke-free campaign claimed that “every 15 cigarettes you smoke will cause a mutation,” which is how cancer starts. In response to a number of complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the claim and found that it was backed by scientific evidence and was not likely to be misleading. Therefore, the ASA found that the ad did not violate the country’s advertising code.