Wireless Armour – called ‘underpants for superheroes’ by Sir Richard Branson – ad banned by ASA for radiation claim

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The advertising watchdog has banned a hi-tech underwear brand – backed by Sir Richard Branson as “underpants for superheroes” – from claiming its “mesh of pure silver” can protect men’s genitals from radiation emitted by mobile phones.

Wireless Armour, which launched earlier this year via crowdfunding site Indiegogo, was named as one of Branson’s top 10 back-of-the-envelope start up ideas.

In an online ad, Wireless Armour said it uses a “mesh of pure silver” woven into the fabric of each pair of underpants.

This “encases the user in a cage of metal” – a Faraday cage – which supposedly protects male fertility by stopping electromagnetic radiation emitted from wireless devices carried in a trouser pocket.

The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint challenging Wireless Armour’s claims.

The company provided eight studies and three papers demonstrating the link between mobile phone radiation and male fertility. It also provided test results from a piece of the fabric it uses to support its claims.

“None of the papers that had been provided demonstrated that mobile phone radiation had a proven negative impact on human male fertility,” the ASA ruled. “[We]concluded that the claims asserting a link between the two were misleading.”

The ASA also dismissed the fabric test report because it was a sample, not a retail product.

“We therefore considered that the evidence provided was not sufficient to show that the product, when utilised by consumers, was able to prevent EM from reaching the genitals,” the ASA said. “In the absence of any such evidence, we concluded that the claims were misleading.”

The ASA banned Wireless Armour’s ad campaign and said it must have “adequate evidence to substantiate the efficacy claims in their marketing in future”.

In a blog last year, Branson referred to the company’s products as “underpants for superheroes”.

“All men should take care of their precious crown jewels, so this sounds like a very intriguing invention I’d like to know more about,” he said.

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