Fourteen advertisements across social media, email and online were found to be in breach of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland code, according to its latest Complaints Committee bulletin.
Among the claims upheld was a Lidl supermarket leaflet featuring a man on a paddle board who was not wearing a life jacket.
The complainant told the ASAI this was against the law and could encourage people not to wear a lifejacket when using watercrafts, which may result in loss of life.
The ASAI concluded that while water safety advice was included in the advertisement, it considered the visual of person on a paddle board without a flotation device "could encourage an unsafe practice".
A complaint about a social media post on influencer Suzanne Jackson's SOSU instagram account - featuring a fashion model - was also upheld under the "misleading" category.
A complaint to the ASAI said the post suggested that the model's dramatic eye look had been created by her using the mascara and kohl pencil featured, when in fact she was wearing false eyelashes.
The advertisers said they had never insinuated that the model was not wearing false eyelashes.
The ASAI committee found that the fact that the model was wearing false lashes was relevant information that should have been referred to in the post.
Another complaint said the claim in an advert by the SIMS IVF clinic to be "Ireland's No 1 IVF Clinic" was misleading and questioned what criteria was used for the basis of the claim.
The advertisers responded that there was no benchmarking available for fertility clinics in Ireland and stated their position was evidence-based.
SIMS said it considered itself to be the number one clinic based on facts. Among the evidence cited by the clinic was market share and the largest team of doctors, embryologists, medical and support staff employed across four (soon to be six) locations.
The ASAI concluded that "in the circumstances, [it] considered that the claim had not been substantiated".
Some social media posts and website adverts about a new product in Applegreen fuel stations were the subject of four complaints.
A sponsored article on a website including the following headline: "This plant-based chicken fillet roll is the vegan alternative we've been waiting for."
One complaint said it was misleading to describe the product as "vegan chicken" as they believed it was a breach of EU law to associate an animal product with a vegan food.
However, the ASAI reported that the EU directive referred only to dairy products.
Another complainant considered that consumers associated the word "chicken" with meat and that the advertisement was misleading.
Applegreen said that in regard to the article online, the error was in the editorial process, not as a result of any direction on the advertiser's part.
The influencers concerned had used the correct term "chicken-free fillet roll", however, they had also used the term "vegan chicken fillet roll" and this had been mistakenly approved by its social media team.
The ASAI upheld the complaints but noted that the press release briefing provided to the influencers and for the sponsored article had only included the term "chicken-free fillet roll".
Advertising on McCabe's Pharmacy Facebook page resulted in a complaint being made.
The advert about free delivery on orders over €38 was accompanied by three photos of different brands of Stage 1 Infant Formula.
The complainant said that Stage 1 Infant Formula was not permitted to be advertised in the interest of protecting breast feeding.
In its response, McCabe's said the screen shots provided demonstrated an unfortunate error in its Dynamic Product Facebook Advertisements.
The company apologised and said it is "actively monitoring" its advertising feed to ensure that similar did not happen again.
The ASAI upheld the complaint and reminded advertisers that there was an onus on them to ensure that correct filters were in place when adverting products on social media platforms.
Other complaints included one that claimed a Sky Ireland website advert was misleading about price.
The committee noted that the advertisement was a 'Black Friday' deal, which was was viewed on 21 November, 2021.
It stated the deal for Sky Cinema with Sky TV and broadband was "€60 a month for 12 months". It also stated that "Sky TV price will increase on 1 December 2021".
The ASAI responded that while it welcomed the transparency in regard to a future price increase, the advertising had stated that the price was €60 a month for 12 months, when in fact the price would be increasing, and therefore was not valid for the full 12 months of the subscription.
In these circumstances, the complaint was upheld.
