It's all lies!

Yes, some say advertising is all about 'bending the truth' a little, but with Rimmel jumping on the bandwagon, like countless other make-up and cosmetic brands with their blatant long-lash-lies, its just a sad state of affairs.

JWT have got their hands slapped for this one, but they claim Kate Moss' eyelashes weren't fake, they were just enhanced in post-production. Still, it doesn't impart much trust in the agency and its brand to me. I too want to believe that mascara will make my eyelashes super-awesomely long and full, but if the mascara doesn't cut it, claiming what these ads do is going to warrant massive disclaimers and caveats.

And who wants an ad with 'ifs and buts'? That Fiat one with the Italian flag coloured cars that I wrote about months ago had a huge 'well, actually this car doesn't come in the green'-style disclaimer on the bottom and it totally ruined it for me.

I guess this is a tough one... being brutally honest may not cut the mustard, yet completely fictionalising your product / service could end up costing you, in monetary and brand trust terms.

Proof of your product / service's actual assets over the competition, proof statistically or scientifically for the things you are claiming, it is the proof that is important. That's what the ASA wants to see! It really shows the power that effective, concise and realistic research can have on a project.