Ad description
A paid-for Facebook ad for Luma Pet, seen on 21 April 2026, featured the caption “More stability. More play. More years without flare-ups. LumaPet’s red light therapy pad supports spinal health, reduces inflammation around the discs, and strengthens the tissues that keep IVDD flare-ups from happening in the first place. Because protecting their back today means protecting every tomorrow with them.”
The ad included an image with large text that stated “STOP BACK PAIN before it becomes PARALYSIS!” followed by “Treat existing damage. Prevent future flare-ups. No drugs. No surgery.” It showed three black devices labelled “Luma Pet” with a red glow around them. Below the image, text included “Prevent IVDD Before It Starts” next to a “Learn more” button.
Issue
The complainant, a veterinary surgeon, challenged whether the efficacy claims were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Luma Pet Ltd did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Luma Pet 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.
The ad stated “More years without flare-ups”, “LumaPet’s red light therapy pad supports spinal health, reduces inflammation around the discs, and strengthens the tissues that keep IVDD flare-ups from happening in the first place”, “STOP BACK PAIN before it becomes PARALYSIS! Treat existing damage. Prevent future flare-ups” and “Prevent IVDD Before It Starts”. We considered consumers would understand those claims to mean that the Luma Pet red-light therapy pad could reduce inflammation around pets’ spinal discs and strengthen the surrounding tissues, thereby treating existing spinal damage and associated back pain, preventing IVDD-related flare-ups and progression to paralysis, and providing those benefits over the longer term in pets.
We understood that IVDD was a condition in which the discs between the bones of the spine degenerated or became damaged, which could cause disc material to protrude or extrude and compress the spinal cord or nerves. This could result in pain, neurological impairment and, in severe cases, paralysis.
We therefore expected to see robust evidence, including trials conducted on the relevant animal species, which showed that the product could achieve the claimed effects. However, Luma Pet Ltd did not respond to the complaint and did not provide any evidence to substantiate the claims.
In the absence of such evidence, we concluded that the claims had not been substantiated and were therefore misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 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 the form complained of. We told Luma Pet Ltd not to claim that its red-light therapy pad could reduce inflammation around the spinal discs, treat existing spinal damage or back pain, prevent IVDD-related flare-ups or paralysis, unless they held adequate evidence to substantiate the claims. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
