Between October 2021 and January 2022, a YouTube pre-roll ad for lead generation service CleverKeith featured a video that showed a person checking their current account balance, which displayed a sum of £237,578.
A voice-over accompanying the video stated: "If you’re a British dad aged 35-45 and don’t have life insurance, I want you to know about this.
"So, some of you will probably be shocked by this but as you can see, my current bank balance is over £237,000.
"The reason it’s so high is because yesterday our family received our protection payment ... As you can see, this is a huge amount of money, so it’s going to make a massive difference to our lives. Click the button to see if you could get this protection too.”
A ruling like this does significant damage to a lead generator's brand and credibility.DesmierThe button below the YouTube video took consumers to CleverKeith’s website.
But the ASA received two complaints about the advert, both of which claimed the video was misrepresenting a life insurance policy as a money-making scheme.
They also complained that the marketer - Stillbloom Limited, trading as CleverKeith - was acting for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession.
After exploring the complaints, the ASA upheld both complaints, stating: "The ad must not appear again in the form complained of.
"We told Stillbloom Ltd t/a CleverKeith to ensure their future marketing communications did not misrepresent life insurance as a money-making scheme, and to make clear that they passed on enquirers’ details to third parties and did not provide advice themselves.
"We also told them not to claim or imply that they were acting for purposes outside their trade or business and to make clear the commercial intent of their marketing."
Stillbloom's response
In its response to the challenges, Stillbloom told the advertising watchdog it believed the terms “protection” and “life insurance” were generally used interchangeably, and that consumers would "understand the ad’s use of the former as reference to the latter".
Furthermore, it argued that consumers would understand that life insurance policies only paid out in the event of the subject’s death.
We had not seen evidence that consumers could obtain the figure shown in the ad.ASAAccording to the ASA, Stillbloom said: "They believed use of the phrase 'Click the button to see if you could get this protection too' was neither a stated nor implied claim that by clicking through to CleverKeith’s website consumers could qualify for the product offered.
"While the age group stated in the ad, 35- to 45- year olds, were less likely to die than individuals in older age groups, that was offset by comparatively lower premiums."
CleverKeith said the ad only directed consumers to their website and did not give the impression they would advise consumers on how to receive a “protection payment”, and that the website footer made clear their status as a lead generation service.
ASA and industry response
But the ASA did not agree with Stillbloom's assessment.
In a statement, the watchdog said: "We considered consumers would understand from the ad that by contacting CleverKeith, via the website linked under the video, they would be able to obtain advice on how to receive a protection payment, and that the figure of £237,578 shown in the ad was indicative of the amount they could receive as a payment.
"We understood that CleverKeith, once contacted through the online form on their website, would only pass consumers’ details on to third-party insurance brokers, after which consumers would be offered a life insurance policy.
"We had not seen evidence that consumers could obtain the figure shown in the ad, and considered the claims misrepresented life insurance as a way of obtaining a large sum of money in the form of a “protection payment”.
"We also ... concluded the ad was misleading and, on that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules (Misleading advertising) and (Substantiation)."
The CAP Code states that marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer was acting for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession.
Under the code, marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent if that was not obvious from the context.
Industry response
In response to the ASA's ruling, Alain Desmier, managing director of Contact State, a company that seeks to promote verifiable lead generation services, said this ruling provided "clarity".
Desmier told FTAdviser: "It is welcome to see the ASA rule on an issue like this with such clarity, at long last. This is an advertising tactic that has been used by lead generators and some insurance distributors alike and the regulatory attention here means that ignorance is no longer an excuse."
He urged buyers of insurance leads to update their contracts and agreements with lead generation partners to specifically prohibit this type of language and advertising, saying this was "an ideal opportunity for all life insurance lead buyers to conduct a review".
Desmier added: "A ruling like this does significant damage to a lead generator's brand and credibility, and should be a warning to everyone involved with generating these sorts of financial promotions that the tide is turning."
In April 2020, FTAdviser raised the alarm about lead generation adverts using 'scare tactics' and misleading information across social media accounts, especially after lockdown took hold globally.
At the time, campaigners called for better lead generation verification processes to be put in place to protect the end consumer and help the insurance industry's reputation.
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
