An advert for a £49 Eucerin face serum has been banned after the UK advertising watchdog ruled it made misleading claims about making users look younger.
The billboard poster for Eucerin Hyaluron-Filler Epigenetic Serum claimed the product was “clinically proven” to make users look “up to five years younger”.
The advert, which appeared at London’s Balham Tube station, attracted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in November 2025.
The claim was based on a study of 160 people who used the serum for four weeks before being asked how much younger they felt they looked.
However, the ASA raised concerns about the study’s methodology, including the lack of a control group and limited information about how participants were recruited.
The watchdog also said the results were subjective because they relied on self-reporting, while the serum had been tested in a different climate to the UK, meaning it may not perform in the same way for British consumers.
Beiersdorf, which owns Eucerin, argued that the “up to” five years younger claim reflected a genuine maximum result rather than a typical outcome.
However, the ASA said three further pieces of evidence submitted by the company were based on unpublished research, while a peer-reviewed study into the product’s active ingredient did not assess the serum itself.
The advert was deemed misleading and has been banned from appearing again in the same form.
Beiersdorf said the billboard was no longer live in the UK and said its products were “supported by scientific research”.
It added: “All of the studies we cite are carried out in line with industry standards.”
Aesthetics marketing expert Lianne Sykes said beauty brands should ensure claims made in advertising are backed by proper skin analysis over a sustained period.
She said consumers should look beyond “nice branding and big names” and ask how skin quality was assessed, whether products were tested across different age groups, and how results were measured.
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