Social media adverts from Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE, ETR:NKE) and Sky Plc (LSE:SKY) have been banned in the UK over unclear claims which regulators said could mislead customers.
Nike’s, an X ad from last December, featured an image of its trainers alongside a caption saying they were “now just £26”.
Sky’s featured on its NOW TV streaming service and related to membership options, which were automatically added to customers’ baskets once on the site.
Britain’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) noted on Wednesday that the Nike promotion related only to children's sized shoes when consumers clicked through to the site, while text in the Sky campaign was said to be unclear.
The regulator said it was investigating such “online choice architecture,” which sees brands hide or delay key information on products in order to prompt people to click on ads.
Such practices have previously been dubbed “dark pattern tactics” and have drawn scrutiny for reducing transparency for consumers.
“We considered that the ad implied that the shoes were for adults,” the ASA said on Nike’s ban, “and that consumers who clicked through from the ad would be doing so on that understanding”.
Discussing Sky’s ads, the regulator wrote: “Text was placed away from the references to the free trials and below the button to proceed in the consumer journey [meaning] consumers were more likely to overlook the significant conditions of the trials.”