Warne's hairloss advert breached industry code

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) A British television advert for a hair-loss treatment endorsed by Australian cricketer Shane Warne was found in breach of industry rules today.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the advert for Advanced Hair Studio was at fault because it had used a celebrity to endorse a treatment that involved medicine.

Warne, who is currently playing county cricket in England, is featured in the advert with the phrase ''Warnie, Warnie, Warnie'' and his quote saying ''I've been hearing it for years but to me I've always taken it as 'warning.''' ''And that warning was that if I didn't do something about my hair loss, they may well have been chanting 'baldy.''' In small text, the advert made reference to Advanced Laser Therapy (ALT), which uses a medicine, minoxidil. The ASA said readers could have inferred that Warne was endorsing ALT and ordered the company behind the advert to withdraw any mention of the treatment in adverts featuring Warne.

Reuters SRS VP1328