The Lessons Learned From Banned Health Adverts | Voicentric

In the world of life science marketing, the best way to advertise a product, medicine or healthcare device is to be clear. Explain what it is, what it does and how it can help people, either through B2B marketing to healthcare institutions or B2C directly to consumers.

However, despite the rules for marketing being very clear and the Advertising Standards Agency being quite quick to enforce its rules on adverts that breach them, either by making an unsubstantiated medical claim, advertising banned medicines or breaching a different type of rule.

However, much like how every mistake is an opportunity to learn, every banned advert has a lesson on how to market effectively without pushing it too far.

Nurofen Back And Joint Pain

At one point popular ibuprofen brand Nurofen tried to sell targeted pain relief products by claiming they had a mechanism to target specific areas of pain in the body.

This is not how painkillers work, and the advert was banned by the ASA, which had a domino effect that took out the entire industry of target pain relief tablets. The Nurofen joint pain title only appears on pain relief gels where the claims can be at least slightly more substantiated.

The lesson here is simple; don’t lie.

Oppo’s Superfood Snafu

Superfoods are a highly controversial subject at the best of times, with a lot of wildly unsubstantiated claims being made when the reality is that most of these so-called “superfoods” are at best slightly more nutrient-rich than most and are in no way a substitute for a balanced diet.

One company to fall (or perhaps get pushed) into this trap was ice cream company Oppo Brothers, which used the terms superfoods and healthy whilst referring to ingredients that did not at that point have authorisation for what they claimed.

Ultimately the adverts were banned and apparently, the complaint was made by Perfect World, a rival low-fat ice cream brand that wanted to target a competitor.

Whilst rivalries cannot really be stopped in the world of sales and marketing, it is always best to lead with what you know is true and correct, and be careful to read the rules if your claims get close to healthcare ones.