'10-minute teeth whitening' Snapchat ad banned by watchdog

The Snapchat story ad for HiSmile, a teeth whitening product, seen on 26 March 2020, claimed 'whiter teeth in 10 minutes' and featured a video of a woman placing a tooth-whitening device into her mouth.

With the device still in her mouth, she began applying make-up, before the video cut to a further scene in which she smiled with the device no longer in her mouth, revealing whiter teeth.

The complainant challenged the product, suggesting it ‘misleadingly exaggerated’ the capability or performance of the product.

HiSmile denied this and provided an independent safety report, an independent clinical test, in vitro laboratory report and an in vitro study.

However, evidence provided by the company was not deemed adequate to demonstrate that the product was capable of whitening teeth within the timeframe stipulated, the ASA ruled.

In its ruling, it said: 'The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told HiSmile Pty Ltd to ensure they did not imply or give the impression that their product could offer whiter teeth in 10 minutes unless they held adequate evidence that this was the case.'