The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7329 p843
11 December 2004

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News summary

Irresponsible spoof advert

Using fictitious medicines in advertisements is misleading and irresponsible.

This ruling came after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about a Newspaper Marketing Agency advertisement featuring a fake medicine claiming to offer pain relief for women.

The ASA ruled that the advertisement should have made it clear that the medicine was a spoof so that people were not misled.