Discredited slimming cream sold in Canada
A recent settlement in the United States prohibits the manufacturer of Nivea skin cream from claiming one of its products can significantly reduce body size, but the cream continues to be sold using similar claims in Canada.
On June 29, the Federal Trade Commission announced it had reached a settlement with skin care company Beiersdorf Inc. The agreement required the company to stop claiming its Nivea My Silhouette! Slimming and Reshaping Gel Cream can help consumers slim down, and to pay $900,000 in compensation to consumers.
In a statement to CBC News, Beiersdorf spokesperson Leslie Kickham stated the company is not advertising the My Silhouette! product in Canada.
However, the company’s Canadian website continues to state the product “slims down fat cells and prevents them from growing back,” and “leads to a reduction of up to 3 cm on targeted body parts such as thighs, hips, waist and belly.”
According to a dermatologist, it’s not possible for a cream or gel to make you lose weight, redefine your body shape or get rid of cellulite.
“Consumers should be wary, but unfortunately there’s a lot of false claims out there and [consumers] want to be trusting, they want to believe these things,” stated Winnipeg-based dermatologist Dr. Victoria Taraska.
“I would love for a cream to melt my fat away, but I know it’s not going to happen at this time.”
In a German study, the company used a body scanner to look at 28 women who used the product twice a day.
According to Taraska, that’s not good enough.
“What you want to see is a randomized controlled trial where you have 100 or 1,000 people using [the product] and 100 or 1,000 [people] on a placebo and you have to show benefit over that placebo. Unfortunately we did not have that with [My] Silhouette!”
Advertisers don’t generally set out to mislead the public, stated the creative director for one advertising agency.
“We’re consumers too. So we concur with protecting consumers.… We do not want to tell lies. That’s not the way we approach advertising anymore,” stated Audra Lesosky, creative director of McKim Cringan George in Winnipeg.
Discontinued in the U.S., My Silhouette! is still sold in Canada.
Once U.S. authorities stepped in, the campaign should have been changed or discontinued in all markets, stated Lesosky.
She also stated consumers should be critical of messages offering simple solutions.
“Everyone aspires to something. People want to believe, and so that is what you are selling, you are selling that belief in something, and if it’s easy, that is the hook.”
Beiersdorf USA sent a statement to CBC News saying it “does not believe that any consumer was misled by the challenged advertising practices.”
According to a U.S. spokesperson, the product was discontinued in the United States at the begin of 2011. CBC News was able to buy the product last week at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada.
Health Canada stated it is unsure whether the product should be classified as a cosmetic or as a health product. It has yet to take any action.
Regardless, complaints about cosmetic or health product advertising can be filed with Advertising Standards Canada.
The Competition Bureau, which promotes truth in advertising, can’t state whether it is investigating the product or has received any complaints.
Looking for a quick fix to lose weight? According to Taraska, unless you’re willing to go under the knife, there isn’t one.
“If you want to lose weight and you want to reshape your body, you have to do it the old-fashioned way — diet and exercise.”
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source : www.cbc.ca
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Submited at Thursday, July 14th, 2011 at 9:00 am on Health by steve
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