Watchdog takes down ‘mummy makeover’ ads in crackdown against hundreds of cosmetic surgery clinics

The UK advertising watchdog has had to take down hundreds of adverts for cosmetic surgery clinics abroad and weight-loss jabs as dangerous ads target “mummy makeovers”, The Independent has been told.

The Advertising Standards Authourity is also taking down 100 unsafe or misleading adverts a day for prescription-only medicines, with the majority of action taken against promotions for Botox and weight-loss jabs.

The authority said it has been forced to take down hundreds of cosmetic surgery adverts since February this year, following a crackdown on clinics abroad attempting to attract UK patients.

Jessica Tye, investigations operations manager for ASA told The Independent: “They’re running adverts for cosmetic surgery abroad, mostly for clinics in Turkey, but not exclusively … Instagram and Facebook seem to be a big space for clinics to use, to attract people.”

She said the clinics were: “Using claims or images that would exploit people’s body insecurities, things like talking about mummy makeovers, which is like a package of surgery involving, breast surgery and liposuction.

“It’s a really serious operation, so it’s really important that ads for these clinics are not encouraging people to rush into a decision.”

Last week doctors at the British Medical Association annual general warned the NHS is being left to “pick up the pieces” as a result of complications linked to a rise in surgical tourism.

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Source: The Independent, 4 July 2024