ASA banned an advert by eHarmony as it was misleading and not scientific

1. Maisie Bloor
eHarmony .Vs. The ASA
The dating website claimed that they used a “Scientifically proven matching system” to pair
up people looking for love, this advert has been banned.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) called the claim“misleading”. EHarmony that
they do not agree with the ruling they will not make their advertising as clear as possible.
The reason this advert was banned was mainly because the website was unable to offer the
ASA any evidence that customers had a greater chance of finding love, despite claiming that
its "scientifically proven matching system decodes the mystery of compatibility and
chemistry". The original complaint was lodged by Lord Lipsey, the joint chairman of the All
Party Parliamentary Group on Statistics and a former member of the ASA council. His claim
against the dating site was that the phrase ‘scientifically proven’ should only be used in
claims that are “just that” and not “crude puffery designed to lure in those longing for love”.
The website actually uses an algorithm which requires users to complete questionnaires to
determine their personality traits, values and interests. The algorithm us data driven; using
statistical models made from the information of more than 50,000 married couples. The
managing director at eHarmony UK, Romain Bertrand, said the service was conceived on the
premise that “science and research could be harnessed to help people find love”. The
company claimed that they believed that the consumers would understand its advert to
mean that its scientific approach could potentially work for them – not that it would
guarantee love. However, the ASA concluded that consumers would interpret the claim
“scientifically proven matching system” to mean that scientific studies had found that the
website offered users a significantly greater chance of finding lasting love than what could
be achieved if they did not use the service.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42546586