Fake Trustpilot reviews and 'as seen on' logos — Capgroup's whiskey ad banned

In April 2026 the website capgroupint.com, which sells whiskey cask and gold coin investments, stated on its home page that it had 27,023 'Excellent' Trustpilot reviews, displayed the words 'as seen on' beside logos of Sky News, The Times, Daily Mail, GB News, Metro and The Telegraph, and under 'Why Whiskey Is the Perfect Investment' claimed 'Consistent Growth: Rare Whiskey has delivered average returns of 8 to 15 percent [sic] per year, outperforming many traditional investments'.

Capgroup Int Ltd said it had traded under three names under the same Companies House registration number, that the Trustpilot rating had been removed from the website and was under review, and that the 'as seen on' logos reflected paid advertising placements and media coverage rather than editorial endorsements. It acknowledged that the products being unregulated was material information and that the ad should have included risk warnings, and said the '8 to 15%' claim was based on an analysis of 83 casks: an average annualised return of 12.7%.

On 8 July 2026 the ASA upheld all four issues. The website had no such Trustpilot rating, so the claim was misleading; consumers would understand 'as seen on' to mean the media companies had run editorial features, when in fact the placements were paid advertorials; the ad contained no prominent statement that whiskey cask and physical gold investments were unregulated; and the past-performance claim was unsubstantiated — selling prices were based in part on valuations, not actual sales. The ads breached CAP rules 3.1, 3.3, 3.7, 3.47, 14.4 and 14.5 and must not appear again.

The ASA banned all four claims: fake reviews, paid logos, missing risk warning, and unsubstantiated returns based on valuations of 83 casks, not sales.

27,023 'Excellent' reviews on a page that had no such Trustpilot rating — the score was the product being sold, not the proof.

'As seen on' Sky News and The Times meant paid advertorials — logos can be bought, so they read as lies.

No prominent warning that whiskey casks and gold were unregulated — the one sentence investors needed was the one missing.

The '8 to 15%' return was built on valuations of 83 casks, not sales — and a third of casks never reached the range.

Borrowed trust is still counterfeit: Capgroup claimed 27,023 'Excellent' Trustpilot reviews it never had and 'as seen on' logos that were paid ads — the ASA banned all four claims.

The ASA told Capgroup Int Ltd to ensure its ads did not mislead by presenting an incorrect Trustpilot score or implying editorial features, and to make clear that whiskey cask and physical gold investments were unregulated, that value was variable and could go down as well as up, and that past-performance examples must be representative.