Ad Alert

HiSmile

British ad regulator frowns upon company's teeth-whitening claims.

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HiSmile wants you to imagine being 10 minutes away from white teeth. Not whiter teeth, mind you, white teeth. In truth, it may take a lot of imagination to experience the results the company advertises for its $59 teeth-whitening kit.

HiSmile became very tightlipped in response to a recent inquiry by the Advertising Standards Authority (or enquiry as the British regulator would spell it). In fact, the company did not respond to the regulator’s inquiry into how it substantiates claims on social media that users of its product experience “white teeth in 10 minutes.”

This made for a pretty open-and-shut case as far as ASA was concerned. ASA interpreted HiSmile’s silence as a tacit admission that the company could not back up its teeth-whitening claims and ordered them banned.

HiSmile apparently did not get the message. The sponsored Facebook post below is not an old ad but one that is currently running (as of April 26).

The company’s teeth-whitening kit consists of a gel containing “key ingredients” sodium bicarbonate, sodium chlorite, aloe leaf juice, pomegranate seed extract and chamomile flower extract that users apply to a tray before sticking it in their mouth. The gel is said to work in conjunction with an LED light to deliver results in 10 minutes, though HiSmile says you can expect “maximum results” after six uses.

Kim Kardashian along with half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner have all promoted HiSmile on Instagram, though not always with appropriate disclosure of their endorsement deals.

Find more of our coverage on oral care products here.

This ad alert was updated 5/10/19.


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