This time out, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was called into action regarding claims made in a press advertisement for Viviscal Maximum Strength Tablets.
The natural food supplements are designed to deal with hair loss concerns; however, had attracted complaints over three claims made in the advertising.
Challenged
The first was that the product was "As seen on TV" due to screening doubts; the second was whether the product was "sold in 20 countries"; and the third was the claim that "a New York-based hair stylist says: "I believe in Viviscal Maximum Strength Tablets..." was misleading, as it was not believed to be about the advertised product.
In response, Lifes2good UK, the makers of the Beauty From Within product, successfully challenged all the complaints.
The company provided a list of the most recent broadcast coverage for the product along with TV footage, a list of 20 countries in which the product was sold along with invoices for five, and proof that although the product goes by a different name in the US (Viviscal Extra Strength Tablets) this is for legal/claims reasons, and the product remains the same.
All of this was accepted by the UK advertising watchdog, who confirmed that no further action needs to take place.
Winning
“Because we had seen evidence that the product had been identifiably featured on a recent TV programme we concluded the claim had been substantiated,” said an ASA statement.
Having received the list of 20 countries the product is sold in, the ASA randomly selected five for further invoice proof, which Lifes2good duly supplied, and concluded that claim had been substantiated too.
“We understood [Maximum Strength Tablets] was the UK product name. Although we understood that Viviscal Maximum Strength Tablets went by the name of Viviscal Extra Strength Tablets in the USA for legal/claims reasons, the actual quote referred to the UK product,” it ends. “We therefore concluded the claim was not misleading.”