Boots Opticians Ltd back in January 2015 ran an ad campaign to promote their new glass covering that was supposed to stop ‘gadget glare’.
Gadget glare is something we’ve been talking about for years, it’s the Blue light that comes from devices such as laptops & mobile phones, it’s particularly damaging to your sleep patterns etc (we agree with Boots on that subject) and is the reason we bang on about F.lux so much, it’s so important that FINALLY Apple have recently announced they will offering a copy of F.lux on their next update.
Anyway back to the glasses, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority), who ‘Police’ what marketing companies can and cannot say in adverts, have banned Boots from promoting these £70 Boots Protect Plus Blue lenses in this way.
The problem for Boots is that they’ve been selling these for ages and will of course not be going back to consumers to let them know they’ve effectively been ripped off. So it’s down to consumers to let each other know and go in and complain.
A message from Jelley Bean (a 10ways user):
I read about this in the news the other day and it really pissed me off because 2 weeks ago, I was sold this exact coating for an extra £70 when it turns out it’s only 20% effective.
I went into Boots today to complain about this and got a full £70 refund and got to keep the glasses with the coating on the lenses.
Worth a shot if anyone else has been sold this – just make sure you say you were told it would make a big difference to your eyesight when you bought them but it transpires it’s only 20% effective so you feel you were mis-sold the coating and you want a refund if the benefits of having them are so low compared to what you were told it would be.
The original advert read:
Did you know that some blue light, from smartphone screens to sunshine, can affect your eyes?
Luckily Boots Opticians can help … did you know that there are lots of factors in your daily life that could be affecting your – and your family’s – eyes?
Many modern gadgets, whether it’s a fancy LED TV or your smartphone, as well as sunlight and energy-saving light bulbs, give off a certain kind of blue light that can cause your retinal cells to deteriorate over time.
Boots Opticians can help you protect your eyes from harmful blue light, reducing damage to retinal cells. For £70, new Boots Protect Plus Blue lenses come with a special finish that filters out the harmful blue light and eases eye strain and fatigue
Links below are to proof of the article and the ASA ruling in case they contest it:
The ASA ruling:
https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2015/10/Boots-Professional-Services-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_293200.aspx#.Vj47Z1_fWnN
Daily Mail Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3292789/Boots-glasses-claim-misleading.html
