Adboard orders withdrawal of misleading ads

The AdBoard of the Philippines has ordered Salutare Inc., the maker of Growrich Virgin Coconut Oil Capsules, to withdraw what it called the company’s misleading advertising materials.

The AdBoard ordered Salutare to pull out the confusing ads until March 3 this year.

In a recent cease and desist order (CDO), the Adboard’s advertising content regulation committee (ACRC) gave Growrich 30 days to pull out their marketing campaign materials that suggest equivalence in measurement between two 500-mg capsules of virgin coconut oil and one teaspoonful of the said natural food supplement.

The "offensive" TV commercial shows the capsules side by side with one teaspoon of VCO separated by an equal sign implying that the capsules contain the same amount of virgin coconut oil as a one teaspoon serving of the fluid.

The AdBoard deemed the comparison to be misleading. AdBoard issued its decision in response to a complaint filed by creative agency BBDO-Guerrero Ortega on behalf of its client Splash Pharmaceutical Corp.

Based on the evidences submitted by the creative agency, one tablespoon of VCO is equivalent to 15 ml. On the other hand, one 500 mg capsule of Growrich VCO is only equivalent to 0.56 ml. This means a person has to take 26 to 27 capsules in order to get the same amount of VCO in one tablespoon of the food supplement.

The AdBoard commanded the removal of all Growrich TV commercials, outdoor, print, and merchandising materials that contain the same violative copy.

"Growrich should physically pull-out all banned materials to prevent erroneous airings, display and publication of the banned elements in their marketing materials," said AdBoard.

Virgin coconut oil is a natural food supplement extracted from fresh coconut meat (non-copra) by using no or low heat.

Tagged as the "miracle oil" VCO started to gain popularity especially in the US and Europe after studies were made showing the many health benefits of the supplement.

VCO contains almost 54 percent lauric acid (the same component found in mother’s milk) that gives the oil its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial properties.