Watchdog bans Dip's dishwasher tablets ads

An eco-friendly cleaning firm has had an advertising campaign banned by a watchdog over health claims about dishwasher tablets.

Dip, owned by Cara Capsules Ltd based in Olney, near Milton Keynes, used a paid-for Facebook ad to take people to an article on "the top five best-performing dishwasher tablets" said to be ranked by an expert team.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said the ads must not appear again and the firm must not "claim that using standard dishwasher tablets was harmful to humans or make comparative claims", while its marketing must be clearly identified.

Cara Capsules said it accepted ASA's ruling and had removed the ads within a week of being contacted.

ASA said the landing page, which claimed consumers could be washing their crockery and cutlery in a "chemical cocktail", had ranked scores for "tested" dishwasher tablet products, including the top-rated item by Dip, with links so people could purchase them.

ASA said Cara Capsules, trading as Home + Health, had published the website page titled "Five Best Non-Toxic Dishwasher Tablets That Actually Work" with credits to both an author and testing manager, but the article had not been clearly labelled as marketing content.

The authority added the disclaimer saying it was an advertorial was "insufficient" as it was in small text at the bottom and consumers would have already engaged with the content.

ASA received two complaints about whether the ads were identifiable as affiliate content and if claims about the impact of dishwasher tablet residue on gut health were misleading and could be substantiated.

In its ruling, ASA said the firm told them the paid-for Facebook ad and landing page had been taken down and it had introduced a policy to pre-approve advertising material to make sure it complied with industry codes.

ASA has ordered that the ads must not appear again in the form complained of, while any claims about the health, safety or toxicity of dishwasher tablets cannot be made without "adequate substantiation".

Charlie Macdonell, director of Cara Capsules, said: "The article fell short of the standards readers are entitled to expect, and we apologise to anyone who was misled.

"We removed it and the associated ads within a week of the ASA contacting us, and we have since put a written claims and approvals policy in place so that everything we publish is clearly labelled and properly evidenced.

"We are proud of our products and will keep making the case for them, but we will do it the right way."

Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? Contact us below.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.