New Decisions: Health claims, Billboards and More

The following decisions have been published on the ASA website:

Health benefit claims not the same as therapeutic claims

Red Seal’s website advertisement for its ‘Pharmacy Strength Cranberry 60,000mg – New!’ promoted the product and said it ‘Supports bladder health in men and women’ and ‘Supports urinary tract and bladder health’.

The Complainant said Red Seal’s therapeutic claims were not substantiated in quantitative research.  The Complainant also objected to the use of the phrase “Pharmacy Strength” because it implied that a comparison to an equivalent pharmaceutical product exists.

The Advertiser said no therapeutic claim was made and provided research to substantiate their health benefit claims.  The Advertiser said the term ‘Pharmacy Strength’ was chosen as the tagline to draw the inference that its supplements are comparable to supplements available in pharmacies.

The Complaints Board agreed the claims made for Red Seal’s cranberry product were for low-level health benefits and did not constitute ‘therapeutic claims’. The Complaints Board confirmed it did not have jurisdiction over a product name but agreed care should be taken to ensure consumers understood the context of products marketed as pharmacy strength or similar.  The Complaints Board ruled the complaint about the advertising claims was Not Upheld and that it had no jurisdiction over the name of the product.

Bauer Given Green Light On ‘Top Restaurants’ Billboard 

A billboard promoting Bauer Media’s Metro Magazine Top 50 Restaurants in Auckland showed an image of measuring spoons and the tagline “Who measures up?”

A Complainant claimed that the advertisement was offensive, misleading and deceptive because it created the impression that those restaurants who have not made Metro’s Top 50 in some way do not ‘measure up’.

The Chair said the Advertiser was entitled to promote its top 50 list in a truthful, socially responsible manner and the process used to compile this list was outside the ASA’s jurisdiction. The Chair said the image and reference to ‘measuring up’ was not misleading and ruled there were no grounds for the complaint to proceed.