Ad description
A website promoting the use of sun beds and spray tans included the text "At Sunseekers we take your health and well-being very seriously. We whole heartedly believe that exposure to UV light (sunlight) is not only good for us but is in fact a vital ingredient for good health and well being".
Further text included "complete abstinence from exposure to sunlight is more harmful than the very small risk associated from exposing ourselves to UV".
The ad made a number of claims about potential health benefits of tanning, based on increased vitamin D intake from UV light, including: improved bone structure, reduced risk of heart disease, increased well-being, weight loss, reduced cancer risk, stronger immune system, cure of skin disorders and reduced risk of burning.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the implied claims that tanning using a sunbed was beneficial for health were misleading.
Response
SunSeekers Sunbeds stated that the controlled use of sunbeds was beneficial to health and well-being and provided published research documents about the benefits of vitamin D from sunlight and the detriment to health associated with complete abstinence. They also provided published articles which linked vitamin D to disease prevention.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the definition of a medical claim under CAP code rule
12.1
12.1
Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.
Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA, VMD or under the auspices of the EMA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.
included claims that a product could be used to prevent an ailment or adverse condition in human beings. We understood it was generally accepted that vitamin D intake from UV sources could be beneficial for bone density. However, we considered the implied claims that vitamin D intake from tanning could reduce the risk of heart disease, reduce the risk of cancer, give a stronger immune system and cure skin disorders, amounted to medical claims. We noted evidence was not presented to demonstrate that the sunbeds used by SunSeekers were CE-marked medical devices and we therefore concluded that the medical claims made in the ad were in breach of the CAP Code.
The ad breached CAP Code rules
12.1
12.1
Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.
Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA, VMD or under the auspices of the EMA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.
(Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad should not appear again in its current form. We told SunSeekers not to make claims about disease prevention linked with vitamin D from using a sunbed without holding robust evidence.
