Advert banned for promoting ‘back to school’ botox to mothers

Advert said women turning to non-surgical treatments ‘to put the spring back in their step and perhaps feel more like themselves on the school run’

(Getty Images)

An advert promoting “back to school botox” for mothers doing the school run has been banned for exploiting women's insecurities around ageing.

Aesthetic treatment comparison site Glowday has fallen foul of the advertising regulator after it published an advert titled “back to school botox” alongside an image of a woman with a child wearing a rucksack in September 2022.

The text below the image read: “The start of the new school term has an extra edge of anticipation for us mums this year. It feels like the beginning of normality…with women bearing the brunt of it all – so it’s great we might finally be turning a little attention back to ourselves.”

A further section on the website advertised other treatments including tear trough fillers and chemical peel, with the page stating: “So there’s a few ideas if you are one of those mums who wants to dazzle at the school gates”.

The advert also suggested that “over a quarter of women say lockdown has aged them and are turning to non-surgical aesthetic treatments to put the spring back in their step and perhaps feel more like themselves on the school run”.

Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has now ruled that the advert “exploited women’s insecurities around ageing, and perpetuated the harmful gender stereotype that women should look a certain way”.

Glowday had argued that the advert was appropriate, as quantitative research they had carried out indicated that many people did indeed book more beauty treatments after school holidays as it was then that caregivers finally had the opportunity to opt for non-surgical treatments.

The ASA nonetheless ruled that this was an “irresponsible” advert that breached the advertising code in relation to rules 1.3 (Responsible advertising) and 4.9 (Harm and Offence).

The ASA also ruled that the advert breached the advertising code by promoting botox - which is classed as a medicine - to the general public, as opposed to simply providing factual information.