Cheryl Cole L'Oreal hair advert cleared

A campaign for L'Oreal hair products has been cleared following complaints that frontwoman Cheryl Cole was wearing hair extensions, a watchdog said today.

Cole said in the ads for Elvive Full Restore 5: "Weak, limp, lifeless; it's time our hair got a life."

This was followed by "My hair feels stronger, full of life, replenished, with a healthy shine. It's got its mojo back", while text read: "Styled with some natural hair extensions."

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 40 complaints that the ads misleadingly exaggerated the benefits of the products, which they believed could not produce the effects shown because Cole was wearing hair extensions.

L'Oreal said results of large-scale consumer tests on participants found that the benefits of the products were achievable and were recognised by the average consumer who did not have hair extensions.

They said the ads were not intended to promise that consumers would look exactly like Cheryl Cole, and the average consumer would understand that the effects would vary according to hair type as well as to how the hair was styled.

Cole's hair was styled by her personal hairdresser for the campaign, as was her usual practice, L'Oreal added.

Rejecting the complaints, the ASA noted that the consumer testing appeared to demonstrate that the results were achievable by consumers who did not wear hair extensions.

It added: "We considered most consumers would interpret the ads to mean the product would have an effect on the look and feel of hair that was weak, limp, lifeless, dull or straw-like. However, they were likely to understand that individual results would vary according to their own hair type."