Ad description
Two ads for a cookbook author, seen on 15 September 2016.
a. An author biography, seen on the Amazon website stated “Dr Stephan Domenig is the Medical Director at The Original F.X. Mayr Health Center … He is fully trained in Mayr theory with certifications in general and emergency medicine, orthomolecular medicines, applied kinesiology, chronobiology and chiropractics”.
b. The website www.alkalinecure.com, stated “The Author … Dr Stephan Domenig is the Medical Director of the original F.X. Mayr clinic in Corinthia, Austria … I first studied medicine over twenty-one years ago … Medical school told me everything I wanted to know about diseases and illnesses from a genetic or biochemical standpoint, but there was nothing about what it means to be healthy … I live with my wife, who is also a medical doctor”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ads misleadingly implied that the author was a medically qualified doctor, registered with the General Medical Council.
Response
Elwin Street Ltd, the publisher of the author’s books, who also controlled the websites’ content, said that they understood Stephan Domenig held the relevant medical doctor qualifications from his home country, Austria. They said that because he was an author and was not practising as a medical doctor in the UK, they did not consider it necessary for him to have registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). Elwin Street provided a copy of a university certificate which they said confirmed that Stephan Domenig had qualified as a medical doctor.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted that the ads made several references to the author’s medical qualifications, such as the use of the title ‘Dr’, “I first studied medicine over twenty-one years ago” and “I live with my wife, who is also a medical doctor”. We considered that consumers would understand those clear statements to mean that Stephan Domenig had completed the necessary educational requirements to call himself a medical doctor. In addition, while consumers would have expected the author to be appropriately qualified, we did not consider that they would have considered it necessary for him also to be registered with the GMC in the context of ads for books, particularly as he was not engaged in or promoting a medical practice.
We considered the certificate provided by the advertiser and noted that it confirmed that Stephan Domenig had been awarded a medical doctorate from an Austrian university.
Because we had seen evidence that the author had successfully completed a medical doctoral programme we concluded the ad had not breached the Code.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
