The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) published two rulings on 26 June upholding complaints in relation to marketing food supplements for menopause.
The ads identified were from two companies: Rejuvit Labs, LLC (t/a Rejuvit Ageless Vitality / Rejuvit Graceful Ageing, referred to in this article as Rejuvit) and Femtech Healthcare Ltd (t/a KeyForHer). All the ads identified by the ASA in these rulings were paid-for Facebook ads for food supplements claiming to treat common menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and ‘brain fog’. Furthermore, the Rejuvit ads included health claims relating to weight loss (specifically, the alleged rate and amount of weight loss), while the KeyForHer ad included claims relating to the function of the immune system, bone health, heart health and cognitive function.
In both rulings, the ASA found that the advertisers had crossed the line and were making medical claims that the supplement could treat the symptoms of menopause. Since medical claims are not available to food supplement products, these claims were unlawful. Furthermore, the ads also made other unlawful claims including health claims and claims about the rate of weight lost.
Comment
These two rulings form part of the ASA’s wider effort to tackle ads claiming to treat the symptoms of the menopause follow on from recent CAP guidance on the topic of menopause claims specifically. The ads were identified through the ASA’s Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to capture ads online and machine learning models to recognise potential issues for investigation. This type of proactive investigation by the ASA is typically used when a particular harm has been identified and suggests an ongoing focus on this area. Therefore, any advertisers looking to make claims about menopause should do so with caution, particularly if the product is regulated as a food supplement (rather than a medicine) as supplement products are not able to make medical claims which limits what can be said about these products in advertising.
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