ASA Adjudication on Acumag Ltd
Acumag Ltd
106 West St
Erith
Kent
DA8 1AQ
Date:
24 August 2011
Media:
Brochure
Sector:
Health and beauty
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A11-161206
Ad
A leaflet for massage therapy products offered a ‘neck traction’ device. Text next to an image of the device stated "Whiplash injuries, muscles spasms, nerve compression, herniated discs, fibromyalgia, radiculopathy, spondylosis, narrowing foramen, neck support, neck problems".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the implied claim, that the product could be used to treat the listed conditions, could be substantiated.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
Acumag Ltd did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Acumag Ltd's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
We noted the ad listed conditions underneath the heading "Neck Traction" and featured an image of a women apparently wearing the neck traction device. We considered that the ad implied the device was capable of treating the listed conditions. Because we had not seen any evidence to support this we concluded that the implied claims were unsubstantiated and therefore misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.7 (Unreasonable delay), 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 12.1 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form.
