Dye expert sees red over ‘misleading’ ad

Sue Fink: expert challenged international company - and won

A RETIRED hair dye expert from Hathershaw has won a British TV ban on a global brand’s “misleading” television advert.

Sue Fink was incensed by a Nice ’n’ Easy advert featuring “Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks, which showed the red head using the product and appearing moments later as a radiant blonde.

The former international hair dye educator lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority and an investigation was launched.

She said: “Her hair going from red to blonde I knew was impossible - you can’t achieve those results with that dye. I was incensed. The ASA replied with a detailed letter saying they thought it was fine - but they didn’t have an expert on the board, so couldn’t know that. I ripped it to shreds..”

After the investigation, makers Procter & Gamble admitted the commercial was filmed in reverse - the 40-year-old actress, a natural blonde, has actually dyed her hair red since she was 10.

The firm asked her not to colour her hair in the eight weeks before filming to let her own blonde come through. The she used a blonde dye before recording the sequence used at the end of the advert.

The following day she dyed her hair back to red before being filmed for the start of the advert. The ad was then cut to make it seem like she went from red to blonde, not the actual sequence.

The ASA received complaints from two hair dye experts who claimed the change couldn’t have been achieved using product alone - and the ASA agreed and told Proctor and Gamble to pull it from the schedules.

A Procter & Gamble spokesman said: “We are disappointed in the outcome as we are confident the colour change we depicted is achievable using our products.”

Sue said: “This was dishonest and I’m delighted it has been removed.”