Medicine, miracle or marketing mirage -the great pretenders?

The main story in this week’s Marketing Week, titled ”The Great Pretenders” reports on the fine line that anti-aging products walk between being medicines or cosmetics and the issue of proving the physiological claims about the products. (Subscription only)

L'Oréal has recently overstepped the mark with claims that its PerfectSlim cream reduced cellulite. Last week it was forced to withdraw poster and print advertising for the product by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP

In a letter to the cosmetics company CAP says that in future any references to PerfectSlim should be accompanied by a disclaimer making clear that the product is not a proven aid to slimming. OK, this is the usual rough and tumble of advertising.

Where it gets a bit more serious is when CAP suggests that because the advertising implies that the cream can improve the structure of the skin, this would amount to a physiological claim. It points out that these are generally considered by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), which requires manufacturers to obtain a licence before a product is marketed under the terms of the Medicines Act. This means a whole new ball game in product testing and associated costs.

There is a lot more in this article and if you can a copy it is worth reading. Because anti-aging products are so important to the cosmetics industry, and likely to get more so, I suspect this is not going to be the end of the story. Dick Stroud: www.20plus30.com


Loreal from Marketing Week