Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on ads making claims about the treatment of prostate issues. The ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 31 July 2024.
Ad description
A paid-for Meta ad for Cishx GB, seen on 4 April 2024, included text that stated “Embrace Prostate Wellness, Don’t let prostate issues hinder your daily activities. VCARE TM Prostate Therapy Underwear is here to help you reclaim your comfort and confidence, so you can focus on what matters most”. Ticked bullet points included text that stated “Natural Relief”, “Easy Application” and “Targeted Support […]”.
The post included an image of a pack shot and the underwear, along with text that stated “Based on 2-weeks clinical test 95% Reduces urinary urgency 92% Eliminates pain related to prostate 94% Reduce prostate enlargement”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ad breached the Code because it made medical claims for an unlicensed product.
Response
Person(s) unknown t/a Cishx GB did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Person(s) unknown t/a Cishx GB’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code as well as their failure to provide their full name and geographical business address, which were in breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.7 (Unreasonable delay) and 1.7.1 (Compliance). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a response to our enquiries without delay and told them to do so in the future.
The CAP Code stated medicinal or medical claims and indications could only be made for a medicinal product that was licensed by the MHRA, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) or under the auspices of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or for a medical device with the applicable conformity marking. In addition, the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 required that a medical device should be registered with the MHRA before it was placed on the market in Great Britain.
The ASA considered consumers would interpret the claims “Don’t let prostate issues hinder your daily activities”, “reclaim your comfort and confidence”, and “95% Reduces urinary urgency 92% Eliminates pain related to prostate 94% Reduce prostate enlargement” to mean that the underwear could treat prostate issues, including those related to pain and urination, as well as an enlarged prostate. We therefore considered those claims were medical claims which therefore required that the product met the requirements for medical devices.
However, we had not seen evidence that the product was registered with the MHRA and held the appropriate conformity marking. Therefore, no medical claims could be made for the product. Because the ad made such claims, we concluded that it breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.10 (Legality) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Person(s) unknown t/a Cishx GB not to make medical claims for devices that did not hold the applicable conformity marking and were not registered with the MHRA. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
