CTPA publishes new guidelines on advertising cosmetic claims
Cosmetic science underpinning product claims has moved ahead in great strides over the past years, providing products that are both more efficacious and nicer to use than ever before. Informing consumers of these innovative benefits through advertising is a challenge if consumers are to understand the key messages, often based on new scientific advances, without becoming confused or misled. The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) has prepared new guidelines, the CTPA Guide to Advertising Claims, to help manufacturers, advertisers and their agencies. The guide covers what exactly is a cosmetic product, since there can be confusion over the borderline with medicinal products. It also presents a new way to look at claims to make it easier to assess the appropriate level of evidence necessary to support a claim and provides guidance on how to ensure claim support studies are conducted to an appropriate level of scientific rigour.
Cosmetic science underpinning product claims has moved ahead in great strides over the past years, providing products that are both more efficacious and nicer to use than ever before. Informing consumers of these innovative benefits through advertising is a challenge if consumers are to understand the key messages, often based on new scientific advances, without becoming confused or misled. The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) has prepared new guidelines, the CTPA Guide to Advertising Claims, to help manufacturers, advertisers and their agencies. The guide covers what exactly is a cosmetic product, since there can be confusion over the borderline with medicinal products. It also presents a new way to look at claims to make it easier to assess the appropriate level of evidence necessary to support a claim and provides guidance on how to ensure claim support studies are conducted to an appropriate level of scientific rigour.
These guidelines were developed with the full involvement of both the Advertising Standards Authority and Clearcast, the two bodies overseeing advertising control in the UK. Both bodies have welcomed the guidelines and will be using them when evaluating advertisements for cosmetic products.
The guidelines were formally launched at a seminar in London on the 6th October and are now available to download from the CTPA website .