REGULATORS have made it clear that teens are not allowed to be the target of cosmetic surgery ads.
It includes a crackdown on social media promotions in a win for Central Recorder’s Had Our Fill campaign.
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The new rules, from the UK’s advertising watchdog, will come into force from May 2022.
Companies won’t be allowed to market products such as Botox or lip and/or face fillers to anyone under 18 years of age.
Ads can’t be placed across any non-broadcast platform – such as social media, magazines, and from influencers – or adjacent to programmes on TV or radio that appeal to teens.
Laura Trott MP said: “This is a huge and welcome step forward in protecting children from unnecessary and potentially dangerous procedures, and I’m pleased that my Bill and the Sun’s campaign have helped make it happen.
“No child needs Botox or fillers and as a result of today’s announcement, unscrupulous providers will no longer be able to target the most vulnerable in our society”.
Following a public consultation, the Committee for Advertising Practices (CAP) made the changes. This committee creates the rules that all UK advertisers must adhere to.
There are growing concerns about the effects of advertising for plump pouts or other treatments on mental health among young people.
CAP “children and young people are particularly vulnerable to body image pressures and negative body image perceptions”.
Research has shown that those in their teens are most likely see a rapid decline of positivity about images.
Shahriar Coupal, the CAP director, said: “Because of the inherent risks of cosmetic intervention procedures and the potential appeal of these services to young people struggling with body confidence issues, it’s important we set the bar necessarily high in terms of marketing.
“The new rules will ensure ads can’t be targeted at under-18s and, where children and young people do see them, our strict content rules mean the ads can’t mislead or otherwise exploit the vulnerabilities of their audience.”
This means that advertisements for surgery can’t be placed next to programmes like Love Island which attract millions of young viewers.
In the past adverts for breast enlargements have been shown and subsequently banned from being shown around the show’s slot.
Procedures for teens are to be banned
Although under-18s can’t have plastic surgery, the ads were intended to encourage young women to consider their body insecurity.
These ads featured many young women, even though they were over 18 years old.
Although there is no set minimum age for breast enlargement and implant surgery, most surgeons will stipulate that women must be at 18 to perform the procedure, unless they have exceptional reasons.
However, the under-18s were not allowed to have dermal fillers until now. Some even admitted to being addicted due to their insecurities.
Botox or lip fillers for under-18s are now illegal since October 2011.
It was a victory of Central Recorder, who has been working with Save Face to campaign for the change since January 2020.
The campaign calls for a crackdown against social media sites that plug fillers – an objective which the new advertising ban pushes forward. There is also a Government-backed registry for qualified practitioners.
Sun research found that shocking 70% of those looking for lip-fillers are women or girls.
Injections are for sale on Facebook’s Marketplace, which is supposedly only available to those aged 18 or older but in practice no proof of age is needed to sign up.
Beauticians, and other self-taught cowboys, were happy to inject 16 year-olds at that time.
Since 2012, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has called for an end to public advertising of cosmetic surgeons.
President of the association Mary O’Brien said she welcomed the ban on advertising cosmetic procedures to children but “it does not go far enough and protect them from influencers and celebrity endorsement”.
She stated that the teens are crucial years in a person’s psychological and physical development.
“We advocate legislation to ban irresponsible marketing of cosmetic procedures, both surgical and non-surgical, to the public.
Many adults are coerced into following a particular treatment by celebrities, rather than having a balanced and individualised discussion about the benefits and risks.
“We have recently published a Code of Candour for Celebrity Marketing where we are calling for more transparency around paid promotions or inducements such as free treatments.”
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Campaign Had Our Fill
Britain’s Botox and filler addiction is fuelling a £2.75billion industry.
9 of the 10 cosmetic procedures are wrinkle-busting or skin plumping.
Half of all women aged 18-34 want to lift their cheeks and improve their appearance.
Fillers are totally unregulated and incredibly you don’t need to have ANY qualifications to buy and inject them.
83% are botched jobs by people who have no medical training. They often work in unsafe environments with terrible results.
Women are left with rotting tissue that leaves them needing to have their lips amputations or lumped.
Despite its dangers, there’s no legal limit on dermal filler. This is why Fabulous launched Had Our Fill.
- Under-18s will be made to stop fillers
- a crackdown on social media sites plugging fillers
- A central registry of practitioners with accredited qualifications that is supported by the Government
We work in collaboration withSave Faceand are backed by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
We want everyone considering non-surgical cosmetic procedures to be educated to make safe decisions.
We’ve Had Our Fill of rogue traders and sham clinics – have you?
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