Watchdog bans Gemma Collins ad promoting headphones for treating depression

Britain’s advertising watchdog has banned an Instagram post from TV personality Gemma Collins in which she promoted a headset as a treatment for depression.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the ad discouraged seeking professional medical advice.

In the video, posted in May 2023, Collins wore a Flow Neuroscience AB device, a £400 headset that delivers mild electrical impulses to the brain’s frontal cortex, which regulates mood. Collins claimed: ‘Flow actually works faster and better than antidepressants. It’s like having your own therapist, in the comfort of your own home. You have full control over your own treatment.”

UK advertising rules state that marketing must not discourage “essential treatments requiring medical supervision”. The ASA found that Collins’ approval suggested the device was a beneficial alternative to prescription drugs, encouraging viewers to bypass medical supervision.

Despite Collins’ claim that her advert included a text caption advising viewers to ‘always consult your GP without fail’, the ASA noted that this only encouraged a preliminary consultation and did not meet the requirement for ongoing medical supervision. The ASA concluded: “The implication was that people who started using the device could stop taking their medication shortly afterwards and without medical supervision. We felt the ad trivialized the decision to stop taking antidepressants or not take them at all and encouraged people to take their treatment into their own hands.”

Gemma Collins, known for her role in reality TV show The Only Way is Essex, is now a TV personality and podcaster.

In a separate ruling, the ASA banned a Virgin Atlantic advertisement for making a misleading claim about using ‘100% sustainable aviation fuel’. The radio spot advertised the first transatlantic flight powered exclusively by sustainable aviation fuels. The ASA, which has recently cracked down on “greenwashing” claims, said the advert gave a misleading impression of the fuel’s impact on the environment.

Miles Lockwood, ASA’s director of complaints and investigations, commented: “It is important that sustainable aviation fuel claims clarify the reality so that consumers are not misled into thinking the flight they are taking is greener than it actually is. Claiming that a product or service is sustainable gives the impression that it does not harm the environment, and for that reason we expect to see robust evidence that this is the case.”

This is the first time the ASA has banned an advertisement over claims regarding sustainable aviation fuels, which are crucial to the aviation industry’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.