Ad description
A press ad for Collagen Prime Cream, seen on 29 May 2024. The heading stated, “My joints feel great thanks to Prime Cream” with the subheading “Collagen is essential for good joint health”. Text below the photo stated, “For those who suffer from: -Joint Pain -Stiff back, hands, hips, wrists, knees -Arthritis”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad made medicinal claims for an unauthorised product.
Response
Stirling Health Ltd t/a Collagen Prime Cream confirmed that they would stop using the ad.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that medicinal claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that was authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), or under the auspices of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A medicinal claim was a claim that a product or its constituent(s) could be used with a view to make a medical diagnosis or could treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
The ASA assessed the claims: “My joints feel great thanks to Prime Cream”; “Collagen is essential for good joint health”; and “For those who suffer from: -Joint Pain -Stiff back, hands, hips, wrists, knees -Arthritis”. The claims were presented as the testimonial from a 62-year-old woman. We considered that consumers would understand those claims to mean that Collagen Prime Cream could relieve joint pain and stiffness, including when they occurred as symptoms of arthritis. We therefore considered that those were medicinal claims which required the product to be authorised as a medicine. However, we understood that the cream did not have the relevant marketing authorisation from the MHRA and because of that no medicinal claims could be made for the product.
Because the ad made medicinal claims for a product which was not authorised, we concluded that it breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 12.1 and 12.11 (Medicines, health devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Stirling Health Ltd t/a Collagen Prime Cream not to make medicinal claims for unauthorised products.
