The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that Purity Laboratories’ Beverly Hills Formula whitening toothpaste ads exaggerate the time it takes to whiten teeth.
The ads claimed to make teeth whiter in one minute and cited a study by the Bristol University Dental School to back up the claim, according to the ASA.
A rival toothpaste maker, Church & Dwight UK, filed the complaint, saying the ads and the cited study were misleading.
Purity Labs responded that the ads didn’t claim to remove all stains in one minute, only 90% of stains in five minutes.
The ASA subsequently ruled the ads must not appear in their current form unless the claims could be substantiated by "robust scientific evidence."
