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Turkey’s Board of Advertisement Rendered a Decision in which It Classified Certain Personal Social
In its decision, the Board mentioned that these six people who promoted the product on their social media accounts give false impressions as (I) the product is good for the immune system because of its ingredients, (ii) it protects against all kind of viral infections (flu, cold, etc.) including Covid-19, (iii) the product can recover the infected people in a very short time, were detected. Furthermore, the Board evaluated that they give the impression that six people testify the benefits of the product by pretending they used the product personally.
As a result of the evaluation:
- The shared contents violated the provisions regarding the “Surreptitious Advertising” in the related legislation by failing to clearly state that the posts were an advertisement.
- Despite the perception that the products were personally experienced by six people who promoted it on their social media accounts, it does not reflect the truth and the contents are deceptive, misleading and violates the provisions regarding “Testimonial Advertisement”.
- Although the use of the health statements for food supplements are prohibited, the said statements are within the scope of health statements and the related product is promoted as a medicine or a medicinal product for human use.
- There was not any permission granted by the Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency toward the statements in the shared contents.
- The consumers are deceived and mislead by such statements that are not scientifically proven.