Weight loss supplement ad deemed irresponsible
According to the advert in question, IntraMed Ltd's Day and Night slimming supplement purports to use ‘two proven ingredients to block and remove fat during the day and burn fat and excess calories at night - while you sleep.’ And it said this statement was clinically proven.
The text of the advert referred to regulated clinical trials that were carried out at the University of Catania in Italy, citing ‘incredible results’ where ‘100 per cent of participants lost weight.’
The ad featured testimonials, including before and after photos, from three customers with one stating that: “In the first month I lost over 17lbs without even trying - I didn't change my diet or start counting calories.”
A complainant questioned whether the efficacy claims for the product could be substantiated and whether the claims 'clinically proven' and 'clinically proven to work' were misleading.
Verdict
The ASA ruled that the advert breached the advertising code in relation to social responsibility, substantiation, truthfulness, as well as weight loss.
The agency questioned the veracity of testimonials that appeared in the advert, and it ruled that IntraMed had failed to provide backing evidence for the product's claims.
The advert was irresponsible, said the watchdog, because it advocated weight loss at a rate that was incompatible with ''good medical and nutritional practice'', and it misleadingly implied that dieters could eat as much as they liked and still lose weight.
“We considered that the claims ‘100 per cent of participants lost weight’, ‘If I can lose weight ... anyone can’ and ‘Even those with only a little weight to lose lost weight’ implied that the product was guaranteed to work in all cases, and we noted that we had also not seen evidence that that was the case,” continued the ASA.
The agency also said that the references in the text to the loss of 31 kilos by one customer and 30 kilos by another offered an unsupervised treatment for obesity.
IntraMed said that the advert appeared in error but that it would comply with the ruling and withdraw it.
The ASA added that it again reiterated to the company the need to hold robust substantiation for efficacy claims made in its advertising.
In the past two years alone Intramed has had several rulings against it by the advertising watchdog for, among others, herbal pills for prostate problems, silica gel for arthritis relief and 'VitaSvelt’ weight-loss pills.
