ASA Adjudication on Natures Cures

Ad

A direct mailing, for Ramagra Advanced Vascular Dilator pills for penis enlargement, that was headlined "LONGER BY 3" PLUS! THICKER BY UP TO 20% ... ". The text continued "100% safe to take with no side effects BEST OF ALL... this is NOT a temporary benefit. You GET longer and thicker ... you STAY longer and thicker ... Used daily, Ramagra Size has now been proved to add around 1" PER MONTH over the first 3-4 months of use to the length of your penis, and up to 20% to its girth ... the 100% natural constituents used in Ramagra Size to stimulate growth of cells within you Corpora Cavernosa". The mailing was accompanied by a leaflet, which repeated the efficacy claims from the mailing, that included a series of four photographs of a man's penis that showed the change in size from months one through to four.

Issue

1. The complainant, who was registered with the Mailing Preference Service (MPS), complained that the mailing was sent to him without his permission.

The ASA challenged:

2. Nature Cures failure to respond to either the Mailing Preference Service or the ASA's enquires about the mailing list used, because it included at least one man registered with the MPS;

3. whether the ad used medicinal claims;

4. the claim "100% natural & safe" and

5. whether the series of photographs of the enlarged penis misleadingly implied efficacy.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Nature's Cures did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned that the mailing was sent to somebody registered with the MPS and that Natures Cures had not responded to the MPSs enquiries. We were also concerned by Nature's Cures lack of response to the ASA and their apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response). We reminded them of their obligations under the Code and told them to respond promptly in future.

Because Nature's Cures did not provide us with evidence to the contrary, we considered that the ad misleadingly implied that the product was "100% natural & safe". We were also concerned that the claims in the ad and the photographs implied the product could increase penis size and noted Natures Cures had failed to provide substantiation to prove that implication.

On points 1 to 5, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response), 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 43.2b, 43.2c and 43.2d (Database practice), 50.1 and 50.5 (Health & beauty products and therapies). We also investigated under clause 50.15 (Medicines) but did not find the ad in breach.

Action

We asked CAP to inform its media members of the problem with Nature's Cures.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)