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Letters to the Editor
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Advertising
Advertisement for Senokot may be misleading
From Mr C. Morris, MRPharmS
Ever since Senokot started its “contains safe, natural senna” campaign,
I have fumed. Senna is natural but it is far from safe in long-term use.
I think that senna is a good laxative for short-term use but too many
people use it continuously to the point where they have to take it since
they have little or no bowel muscle tone.
Now we have a new advertisement. I have seen it twice and it took both
times watching it to catch the small reference to constipation. Apparently “natural
senna can promote digestive health”; it seems to be being sold
as a health food supplement. These days everyone seems to go for vitamin
supplements and healthy natural alternatives.
I was wondering whether anyone else had noticed it and whether anything
could be done about possibly misleading advertisements.
C. Morris
Newquay,
Cornwall
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TIM BAXTER, medical affairs director, Reckitt Benckiser
Healthcare, replies:
I am sorry to hear that Mr Morris is concerned that our advertisement
for Senokot may encourage the inappropriate use of constipation
remedies.
As leading manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines, Reckitt
Benckiser Healthcare is always conscious of its duty to ensure that
it does not promote any of its
medicines in a way that might encourage them to be used inappropriately.
This advertisement was written to a specific brief that was wholly intended
to target constipation sufferers. That is why it was ensured that the indication
for relief of acute constipation only is made clear in the very first line
of
the script, and that the story then clearly shows the heroine suffering
from constipation, taking our remedy, and then getting relief from her
condition.
Like most major advertisers, Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare conducts extensive
research before making a new television advertisement, using independent
research companies and recognised and well-respected research techniques.
In speaking
to over 250 constipation sufferers, it did not encounter anyone who believed
that the advertisement in any way suggested, promoted or endorsed the use
of Senokot as a daily health supplement, or for any indication other than
for the
relief of constipation.
In addition to this research, before any advertisement can be broadcast,
it must also satisfy two independent regulatory bodies that the film’s
content meets all legal requirements. These two bodies are the Proprietary
Association
of Great Britain and the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. Approval
was obtained from both bodies before broadcast.
I hope this helps to reassure you that Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare takes
its responsibilities as an advertiser extremely seriously, and that it
has been careful
to try to ensure that its advertising does not in any way encourage or
condone the misuse of constipation remedies. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal