ASA Adjudication on Homeo Home

Ad

Monitoring staff viewed an ad in Bengali on Channel S for the Homeo Home homeopathic practice. The ad showed a waiting room full of men reading newspapers and magazines and then the ad cut to a sign for the homeopathic practice; it stated “Dr Chakresh Chakraborty, Homeopathic Consultant” and listed the practice’s opening hours. A man, referred to in on-screen text as “Dr Chakresh Chakraborty”, was shown sitting at his desk, on which was a stethoscope. He took notes during three separate consultations, two of them with adult men and one with a young boy. The consultations were interspersed with more images of the full waiting room. Meanwhile, the Bengali voice-over stated “Renowned homeopathic practitioner from Dhaka, Dr. Chakresh Chakraborty is now in London. He has been treating a lot of new and complex diseases for the last three decades. The contact address for a consultation for asthma, skin disease, sexual diseases, spondilitis, diabetes, hay fever, migraine, infertility, piles, mental stress and various other diseases is 8 to 10 Greatorex Street, Whitechapel, London E1 5NF. Time : 10.30 am to 2.00pm. And 4.00pm to 7.00pm. Phone: 07943679183.” Scrolling on-screen text in Bengali stated “The contact address for asthma, skin disease, sexual disease, spondilitis, diabetes, hay fever, migraine, infertility, mental stress and various other diseases is 8 to10 Greatorex Street, Whitechapel, London E1 5NF. Time 10.30am to 2.00pm. And 4.00pm to 7.00pm. Phone: 07943679183”. The ad then showed two photographs of babies on their mothers’ chests. The on-screen text stated “mum’s chest”. The ad divided into three separate images and showed a bunch of grapes, a banana and some peas. That in turn was followed by a single image of a medley of vegetables. The next image was of a pie-chart with different-sized segments containing fruits and vegetables in one, packets of meat in another and in the other segments bottles of what seemed to be medicines. The ad then showed two photographs, side by side, of two pairs of arms with a skin condition that looked like vitiligo (leucoderma). Static on-screen text stated ‘Homeo Home. 8 to 10 Greatorex Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 5NF. Phone: 07943 679183”. The Bengali voice-over stated “The contact address is 8 to10 Greatorex Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 5NF. Time: 10.30am to 2.00pm and 4.00pm to 7.00pm. Phone: 07943 679183”.

Issue

Monitoring staff challenged whether:

1. the ad gave the impression of professional medical advice;

2. the ad made medical and therapeutic claims for treatments and referred to specific ailments.

3. Monitoring staff challenged the acceptability of broadcasting the ad after two previous upheld adjudications against another homeopathic practice advertised on Channel S Television Group channels.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. Channel S stopped broadcasting the ad during the investigation. Channel S explained that homeopathy was a complementary therapy and that, in 2000, the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology cited homeopathy as one of the five Group One therapies that, along with osteopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine and acupuncture, had "an individual diagnostic approach". They explained that homeopathy had been used for over 200 years and that homeopathic remedies worked by gently boosting the bodys natural energy and were safe, even for pregnant and sensitive patients, with no danger of addiction or toxicity.

Channel S said homeopathy was part of the NHS, many NHS homeopathic clinics existed around the country and over 400 GPs used homeopathy in their surgeries.

Channel S said it was well known that Asians are the main consumers of homeopathic medicine and, because of that, consultants were often referred to as doctors.

2. Channel S did not respond on this point.

3. Channel S stated that the ad did not contain the same claims as those upheld in adjudications on challenges to ads for homeopathic practices. They stated that they believed the ad complied with the CAP (Broadcast) TV Code.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted Channel S stated that homeopathic consultants were often referred to as doctors within the Asian Community. We considered that the ad implied the man providing the treatment was offering professional medical advice because, in the on-screen text and the voice-over, he was referred to as "Dr. Chakresh Chakraborty" and also as "Homeopathic Consultant". Also, the ad showed people being offered advice in a setting that looked as if it was a doctors surgery. We understood that Dr Chakresh Chakraborty was not qualified as a medical doctor and we considered that referring to him as such was misleading. We considered that giving the impression of professional advice was unacceptable in advertisements for products or treatments within the remit of Section 8 of the Code.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 8.1.2 (Impressions of professional advice and support).

2. Upheld

We considered that the ad, which included the statement that Dr Chakroborty "has been treating a lot of new and complex diseases" implied medical treatments were being offered. Furthermore, the ad referred to specific ailments, contrary to the Code.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast TV Advertising Standards Code rule 8.2.2 (b) (Homeopathic medicinal products).

3. Upheld

We noted this was the third time Channel S Television Group channels had not complied with a previous ASA adjudication on ads for homeopathic practices. We considered that that demonstrated that Channel S Television Group were not learning from their mistakes and showed a complete disregard for the Code and their obligations as an Ofcom licensee. We warned them that another breach of the Code would result in a referral to Ofcom for consideration of statutory sanctions.

Action

We concluded that the ad must not be shown again in its present form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)