Vaping advert banned over implication of endorsement by Sir Mo Farah

Advertising watchdog says advert ‘breached’ code that prohibits misleading campaigns

Gold medalist Mohamed Farah of Great Britain celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's 5000m on Day 15 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 11, 2012 in London, England (Getty)

An advert for a vaping product has been banned for implying it was endorsed by Olympic runner Sir Mo Farah.

The advert for Diamond Mist Eliquids, which was printed on the side of a bus in April and May, featured a photograph of eyes and eyebrows of a bald man that bore an uncanny resemblance to Sir Mo.

The image featured alongside text that read: "Mo's Mad for Menthol. Explore Our Vape Flavours: Find Your Favourite #switchtomist" and "Some Eliquids contain Nicotine Which Is A Highly Addictive Substance".

The athlete later tweeted about the advert, stating that he did not feature in it and had not endorsed the product.

Three people complained that the man featured in the advert looked almost identical to Sir Mo, and challenged whether the advert misleadingly implied that he had backed the product.

In response to the complaints, Diamond Mist said the advert was created to connect a number of names to the e-liquid flavours it advertised by using alliteration and a strong colour palette.

The company argued that other adverts in its campaign used names similar to Mo, such as Claire, Lucy and Wang, adding that the skin tone of the model in the advert was not similar to that of Sir Mo.

It added that the advert was made to appeal to a number of people, inclusive of all genders and ethnicities.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaints, stating that the the model's head and eyebrow shape in the advert were like that of Sir Mo's, and that the athlete was one of the most recognisable and well-known figures in the UK to go by the name “Mo”.

"Overall, we considered that the ad was likely to give consumers the misleading impression that the product had been endorsed by Sir Mo Farah,” the ASA explained.

"We therefore concluded that the advert breached the code,” referring to the CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.45 and 3.48 (Endorsements and testimonials).

The ASA warned Diamond Mist Eliquids that the advert must not appear in the form complained about.

“We told Diamond Mist Ltd not to imply that Sir Mo Farah, or any other person, had endorsed their products if that was not the case,” it added.