Background

Summary of Council decision:

Four issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.

Ad description

Claims on the home page of www.tearlessteething.com stated "Welcome to Tearless Teething - Hazelwood Necklaces ... Acidity imbalance in the body is thought to be a main player in certain medical conditions and connected to teething symptoms. Customers have reported that the Hazelwood products have also shown to be helpful with the general well being of the digestive system and certain skin irritations". Claims on the "Product" page stated "The native [sic] Americans were the first to discover that if they were to put Hazelwood Chips on their babies' neck it would soothe teething pains. Almost forgotten Tearless Teething reintroduced this old remedial way to holistic healing in the form of their necklaces and other products to help not only the babies but to take advantage of the natural benefits of the Hazelwood, not only for the infants but the whole family ...".

Issue

An internet user challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

1. "Acidity imbalance in the body is thought to be a main player in certain medical conditions and connected to teething symptoms";

2. "... the Hazelwood products have also shown to be helpful with the general well being of the digestive system and certain skin irritations.";

3. "[The native [sic] Americans] ... put Hazelwood Chips on their babies' neck it would soothe teething pains"; and

4."Tearless Teething reintroduced this old remedial way to holistic healing in the form of their necklaces and other products to help not only the babies but to take advantage of the natural benefits of the Hazelwood, not only for the infants but the whole family".

Response

Flightbrick Ltd believed all the claims were capable of substantiation and said they would provide the ASA with supporting evidence. However, despite our further enquiries, they did not make the substantiation available to us.

Assessment

1., 2., 3. & 4. Upheld

The ASA noted we had not seen evidence to support the claims "Acidity imbalance in the body is thought to be a main player in certain medical conditions and connected to teething symptoms", "... the Hazelwood products have also shown to be helpful with the general well being of the digestive system and certain skin irritations", "[The native [sic] Americans] ... put Hazelwood Chips on their babies' neck it would soothe teething pains", and "Tearless Teething reintroduced this old remedial way to holistic healing in the form of their necklaces and other products to help not only the babies but to take advantage of the natural benefits of the Hazelwood, not only for the infants but the whole family". We considered that the claims had not been substantiated and were therefore misleading and breached the Code.

The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising),  3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.  (Substantiation) and  12.1 12.1 Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.
Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA, VMD or under the auspices of the EMA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.
 (Medicines, medical devices, health related products and beauty products).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Flightbrick Ltd to ensure that they held robust substantiation for the claims in their advertising and to make such information available when responding to our enquiries.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

12.1     3.1     3.7    


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