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Acne cosmetic product ads banned for making ‘medicinal’ claims

Dermalogica, Johnson & Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser and Feelunique have had ads banned for making medicinal claims about their acne treatment products.

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Clearasil ad. (ASA/PA)

Ads for cosmetic brands including Dermalogica, Clearasil and Clean and Clear have been banned for making medicinal claims about their ability to treat acne.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told Dermalogica, Johnson & Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and the retailer Feelunique that they cannot make the claim that the products can prevent or treat acne because they are cosmetic rather than medicinal.

A web page on the Dermalogica website for its MediBac Clearing range said the products work “to treat, clear and prevent adult acne” and was “formulated specifically to treat adult acne”.

Feelunique ad. (ASA/PA)
Retailer Feelunique was contacted (ASA/PA)

Dermalogica proposed to amend the claims by removing references to acne and replacing them with the terms “breakout” or “blemish”.

But the ASA said: “We told Dermalogica to remove the claims which referred to the treatment of acne and not to make medicinal claims for unlicensed products, in particular claims that stated or implied that their products could prevent or treat acne.”

Beauty retailer Feelunique said they thought it was unlikely that consumers thought of acne in the same was as they might think about a condition such as diabetes or appendicitis in response to a complaint about its ads for “acne treatments”, but said they were willing to make changes to their advertising if requested.

A product listing for Johnson & Johnson’s Advantage Spot Control Treatment Gel said it was “clinically proven to start clearing spots in just 4 hours”, while the Clearasil website said the brand’s Rapid Action Treatment Cream was “clinically proven to visibly reduce spot size and redness in as fast as 4 hours”.

Johnson & Johnson said that Clean and Clear was a well-known cosmetic brand for clear skin, adding that the overall presentation of the products in the ads was clearly cosmetic and consumers would not expect such products to be medicines.

RB UK Commercial also said its Clearasil Rapid Action Treatment Cream was placed on the UK market as a cosmetic product and not a medicine.

The ASA banned the ads and told all four companies not to make medicinal claims for unlicensed products, “in particular claims that stated or implied that their products could prevent or treat acne”.

Feelunique said: “We note the clarification provided by the ASA’s review of this topic and we will be complying with their recommendations.”

Johnson & Johnson said: “We value the trust consumers place in us every time they choose one of our products, and we respect this trust by carefully reviewing our marketing language to ensure we provide straightforward, factual information.

“We will update the product description on our website to reflect ASA’s ruling to ensure that there is no possible confusion in future.”

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