Cara Delevingne's Rimmel advert banned after viewer complains

A Rimmel advert starring Cara Delevingne has been pulled after a viewer complained it was misleading.

In the commercial Cara promotes the Coty-owned make-up brand’s Scandaleyes Reloaded mascara, and can be seen applying it while a voice over says: “New max-density brush for clump free lashes. Extreme volume. Extreme wear."

After receiving the complaint from a disgruntled consumer, who pointed out “the ad misleadingly exaggerated the likely effects of the product”, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the advert was misleading, and that lash inserts and post-production techniques were used to make Cara’s lashes look longer and thicker.

“We noted Coty's assertion that the post-production techniques used were not intended to lengthen the model's eyelashes. However, we considered that they did appear to be longer in the after photo,” the ASA said in its assessment.

"Because the ad conveyed a volumising, lengthening and thickening effect of the product we considered the use of lash inserts and the post-production technique were likely to exaggerate the effect beyond what could be achieved by the product among consumers.

"We therefore concluded the ad was misleading."

Coty UK had defended the ad, but were ruled against and can no longer show the commercial as it currently is.

Part of Coty’s defence was that lash inserts had been used to prep 24-year-old Cara’s eyes before she applied the mascara to fill in any gaps and “to create a uniform lash line”. The company also admitted to using post-production software, but only to draw in lashes that were not visible because of the model’s eyeshadow, and not to lengthen or thicken the lashes.

The complaint was made in December (16).