Shiny new penny ads 'misleading'

The ads show coins are all shiny after being dipped in the cleaner

Adverts suggesting a household cleaner can make an "old penny as good as new" in 15 seconds are misleading the public, a watchdog has ruled.

The Advertising Standards Agency said the "exaggerated" and "oversimplified" television ads for Cillit Bang cannot be shown again in the same form.

Twenty-six viewers complained about the advert for the cleaning product made by Anglo-Dutch firm Reckitt Benckiser.

The ASA rejected a further complaint that it was not a fast-acting cleaner.

The ASA said: "We accepted that Cillit Bang would effectively remove limescale in 15 seconds."

Shiny and new

The ads showed a dirty coin being dipped in the cleaner for 15 seconds and emerging shiny and clean to demonstrate what the product could do for taps and sinks.

But viewers said it would take longer than 15 seconds to clean an old coin, and the complaint was upheld.

The ASA said that "old coins did not come out looking brand new" but accepted that when half a coin was dipped in the product it came out "visibly brighter than the undipped half".

The advert also showed a demonstration of what it said was a lump of solid calcium quickly dissolving in a tank of Cillit Bang.

The commercial said "limescale is simply calcium that sticks" and claimed the cleaner would therefore do wonders on taps and sinks.

However, viewers complained this was misleading as limescale was made up of calcium compounds which were less reactive. This complaint was also upheld by the ASA.

Reckitt Benckiser and advertising firm JWT had said the demonstration did use calcium carbonate, not calcium, and the voiceover unintentionally "oversimplified the chemistry".