The Board of Directors of the Authority of Professional Regulation of Advertisement (ARPP, as per its French acronym) has just validated a new Code of Ethics for cosmetics. This code is set to give guidelines, whatever the means the information is given to the customer. Be aware, manufacturers and marketing departments: you have only until 1th March 2010 to review your ads and if needed, to soften the least acceptable wordings!
December 18, 2009
A best-practice guide already existed for cosmetics ads: it has been up-dated to, as per the ARPP press release, "
be in line with some new wording in the ads, particular to this sector, but also to consider the marketing and scientific evolutions that are inherent to the new products, widely advertised.
"
As a preamble, this code reminds that, "
any allegation shall be true, clear, fair, objective and shall not mislead [Editor’s note: consumers]
."
General principles
In this section, it is interesting to note that, "
advertisement shall not mention anything making it possible to think that the product has specific properties, while all the similar products have exactly the same properties, for instance, due to the category of the involved product or due to the application of the current pertaining regulation.
"
This is a good opportunity for CosmeticOBS-L’Observatoire des Cosmétiques to remind that some mentions, though widely used in flyers, may be in this frame, such as those stating that the product is
not animal tested
… a point mandatory for all the cosmetics nowadays.
Proof of efficiency
New guidelines are set about the presentation of the tests claimed to be a …
