By Matt Morrison
A vitamin supplement - advertised as "a proven alternative to Viagra" - doesn't deliver the goods, according to a ruling.
The company which sells the supplement has been ordered to withdraw the advertisement.
The claim was initiated by a resident of De Bron in Cape Town's northern suburbs, who told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that he did not receive the results promised in a local community newspaper advert for the food supplement "Natumed".
'Hypothetical reasonable consumer knows is a drug used to improve erections' In its ruling, the ASA said "the complainant submitted that the product was purchased and used, but did not deliver any favourable results.
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"In an effort to (establish) that it was a defective product, the complainant gave one of these tablets to a friend. The friend also did not achieve any favourable results."
The man, who did not want to be named, said on Tuesday: "I wanted them to check the product because what they said in the advert didn't happen for me ... it should do what it said it would do."
The ASA found that the advertisement for the product implied that it could achieve the same results as Viagra - which the "hypothetical reasonable consumer knows is a drug used to improve erections".
This statement, the ASA said, should have been substantiated by an independent, credible body.
The ASA ordered Maxlife, who manufacture Natumed, to withdraw the advert and also ruled that "the advertisement may not be used again in future".
Maxlife claimed that the man had used the absolute minimum dosage, and noted that the product was not recommended once a man had lost more than 25 percent to 30 percent of his erection, as it might not be as effective.
However, the ASA also noted that the fact that it was effective only for men who had "lost less than 25 percent to 30 percent of their erection... is not communicated in the advertisement".
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This article was originally published on page 2 of The Star on May 11, 2005
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