Nike sneaker ad labeled ‘misleading’ for marketing $35 kids’ shoes to adults

A “misleading” online advertisement for $35 Nike sneakers has been banned in Britain for failing to make clear that the product was actually targeted at children and therefore the offer didn’t represent a true discount for adults.

The ad featured a pair of sneakers next to the caption: “Now just £26 at Nike!” and exploding head and black heart emojis, according to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).

The ad appeared on the X account of The Sole Supplier, an online marketplace selling footwear and clothing from several major brands, in December 2023, the regulator said in its ruling Wednesday.

When consumers clicked on the ad, it took them to a page on Nike’s website displaying a pair of sneakers tagged as an “older kids’ shoe” available in UK sizes 3 to 6 — which translates to US sizes 3.5 to 6.5 for men, and 5 to 8 for women. Shoe sizing in the United Kingdom is often unisex.

“There was nothing in the ad to indicate to consumers that the trainers were intended for older children or that they were available in limited adult sizing,” the ASA said, adding that “the ad was likely to be misleading by omission.”

The majority of Nike lifestyle sneakers were at the time available up to UK size 9.5 for women (a woman’s 12 in the United States) and up to size 14 for men (a man’s 15 in the US), the agency said.

“The sizes of the advertised product were limited to such an extent that a significant number of adults would not be able to purchase their desired size,” it continued, ruling that the ad should not appear again.

Nike (NKE) said the ad was created and published by The Sole Supplier “without any (of its) input or oversight,” the ASA noted. The US sportswear giant also disagreed that the ad was misleading, arguing that a reasonable consumer would assume there to be a limited number of sizes for the product, the regulator added.

The Sole Supplier, for its part, said it was open to considering how to display sizing information “more prominently” in future ads, the ASA said.

A spokesperson for Nike declined to comment on the matter, referring CNN to the information in the ASA ruling. The Sole Supplier did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The regulator noted that the ad also implied that the advertised price represented a “significant discount” compared with the normal price of adult sneakers. But, because children’s shoes are typically cheaper than adults’, and children’s shoes in the UK are exempt from a widely applied sales tax, the ASA said “the average consumer would not regard £26 as a heavily discounted price for children’s (sneakers).”

The ban comes as part of the ASA’s wider investigation into potentially deceptive advertising practices through so-called “online choice architecture” — that is, the way businesses design their website and social media pages to interact with consumers.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said in a 2022 report that online choice architecture can be used by companies to “distort consumer behavior,” for instance, through prompting them to buy more than what they would ordinarily and at higher prices.