Smoke gets in our eyes: how we fall prey to false advertising claims

If it seems too good to be true, then it’s a matter for the Advertising Regulatory Board.

Advertisers may no longer be deceiving the public with claims that “more doctors smoke Camel”, that health tonics cure baldness, or that Coca-Cola “revives and sustains”, but it seems we haven’t come far since the early days of snake oil salesmen, as the sector remains awash with half-truths and outright lies — especially about products’ efficacy and possible side effects.

It’s not only about lying to the consumer to make a quick buck – it also directly affects people’s health and financial wellbeing.

Consumers might be conned into buying products that supposedly boost testosterone, help them lose weight or build muscle, but it goes beyond parting a fool from her money if, for instance, a gullible consumer buys into the “miracle” Wonder Nut diet product that is so full of arsenic it could cause significant harm – or even death.

South Africa’s regulatory system is so feeble, on every front, that it barely pays attention to misinformation, so the advertising sector was regulated by itself for 50 years. But in 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority went into liquidation after a series of lawsuits brought by peddlers of fake products. The ASA regrouped and within months, the rebranded Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) made its first ruling, on a “bread-and-butter” issue, on whether a margarine could be called that, or a spread.

For “consumer activist” or “serial complainer”, depending on the source, Dr Harris Steinman has been a thorn in the side of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) producers for years. So far, he’s lodged over 300 complaints with the ARB and its predecessor, the ASA. The complaints, all health-related, are not petty matters, and it seems there will never be a shortage of material because there are always adverts that push the boundaries.

Steinman has repeatedly complained about Herbex Ultraslim and Fat Attack, Homemark (Aragan Oil Detox Foot Pads, Detox Tea and Slim Coffee) and USN Whey Protein, while also alerting consumers to other CAM products on his website, camcheck.co.za – taglined a “A South African consumers’ guide to scams, pseudoscience and voodoo science, OR, a critical thinker’s guide to the ins and outs of Complementary and Alternative Medicine”. “There are strict advertising regulations for prescription medicines but none for complementary medicines, no laws at all, and companies like Herbex advertise whatever they want. And they are not even registered as an alternative medicine.”

And when advertisers push the limits, nobody, except the ARB, does anything about it: “If I complain about a medicine, I go to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority; it is meant to take action. But it almost never does.

“With food, for example, the Freedom Bakery had claimed to be selling gluten-free bread. I could have complained to the Health Department’s directorate of food control, but they would tell me the complaint must be made at provincial level. And if there’s a good unit in the Western Cape, they will take action; if not and they are moribund, nothing happens.”

The fraud is not only about money, it’s about health, he said. “It could be about financial risks, with pyramid schemes, and health, where products can’t fulfil consumer needs. Am I going to spend money on a dietician or rather a quick fix? This directly affects people’s health. And it delays them getting proper attention.”

Steinman, who started his “crusade” against CAM products during Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s time at the Health Ministry, said he had taken up the Fat Attack issue with Manto’s capable deputy minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge. But while the latter was on board to tackle false advertising, she was fired soon after - outrageously - for attending a conference on HIV/Aids in Spain at a time when her denialist boss was touting beetroot, African potato and ginger as curatives.

“I mentioned Fat Attack’s claims that you could ‘take one pill and eat as much as you want’. And Madlala-Routledge said, ‘What do you mean it’s a scam?’ I said it was. She said she herself had tried it three times, but when she did not lose weight she thought it was her physiology.

“How many people believe that? They don’t believe it’s the product they are taking. That made such a huge impact on me.”

The ARB is funded by the Marketing Association of South Africa, the Association for Communication and Advertising, and the Internet Advertising Bureau of South Africa. It expects advertisers to hold evidence for their claims, that adverts must be truthful and not mislead consumers. They may also not make scientific claims for products without any basis. With a significantly trimmed staff complement since the heyday of the ASA, the ARB does not have the capacity to monitor the media; nor did its predecessor. Which is why it relies on the public – and even competitors – to lodge complaints about alleged false advertising. As a self-regulatory body, the board can only expect its members to comply with rulings. Most big, ethical companies respect its decisions, but then there are others, such as Herbex, which refuse to participate in the process.

Some complaints spark great interest, others are “chicken and juice” issues, says Gail Schimmel, CEO of the board.

“Sexy” rulings always get the most attention – about weighted blankets, slimming aids, immune boosters and mobile advertising for adult entertainment club Teazers.

Then there is the ruling in favour of Durex’s packaging for Fetherlite Condoms, which proclaimed that “sex is fun” (who knew?). The complainant believed children could get “the wrong idea” and that parents had a right to have conversations about sex in their own time. The board noted that “it is perplexing that parents should take issue with non-pornographic condom packaging. There has been no scientific proof to back up the claim that the sale of condoms (or nonpornographic condom adverts) promotes promiscuity.”

Two men failed to see the funny in a Doritos advert, which involved some cringy finger-sucking in the workplace. One was convinced it amounted to sexual harassment in the office, and the other submitted that sucking another man’s finger and going into ecstasy was “highly inappropriate”.

But the banal and truly ridiculous complaints seldom reach the airwaves, she says. “There was a woman who complained about a poster of a woman in underwear. She didn’t think it was appropriate for general viewing – but she saw the poster in a bra shop.”

Another complained about a price discrepancy in a tyre advert. The advertised price was R398; when the customer went to the outlet, the cost was R399.

“She was appalled. I was convinced I was missing something,” Schimmel said. “So I wrote back to her, asking: ‘Am I right that your issue is R1?’ She responded, ‘Yes!’ The annoying part is, technically, she’s right – that it is misleading.”

Then there was the person who complained about a Peaceful Sleep mosquito repellent ad. “The complainant was upset because when she sprayed herself with Peaceful Sleep, she doesn’t become invisible (as the ad, to her mind, seemed to suggest).”

And a murder of Karens complained about Black Lives Matter, wanting All Lives to Matter. Those complainants, Schimmel said, received a letter of explanation, and links to articles.

“We deal with so many different issues and they are all equally important,” she said. “The thing that comes up again and again is misleading claims in advertising. Racism and other issues are sexy but misleading ads are our biggest [number of] complaints.”

Averaging at around 50 complaints a month, Schimmel says only about 20% of complaints go through their formal processes. Complainants might not supply all the information, there might be jurisdictional issues, or they might be “bonkers”.

“We don’t entertain every crazy complaint. But we can only act when we see a complaint. We can’t monitor, we don’t have resources,” she said.

Tough times for the media mean that broadcasters and other news media are perhaps accepting adverts that they should not.

“We do understand why, but I wish they would not accept things that they know are rubbish. As a self-regulator, there are limits to our powers.” DM168

There was a woman who complained about a poster of a woman in underwear. She didn’t think it was appropriate for general viewing – but she saw the poster in a bra shop