THE ADVERTISING STANDARDS Authority of Ireland has upheld a complaint against an advertisement for breast massages that claims it reduced the risk of breast cancer and increased breast sizes.

A complaint was made to the ASAI about Nature & Harmony‘s text advertisement to customers which made the following claims:

…
1. Acupuncture for headaches and migraines
2. Breast massage for women with hands and machine
Benefits of breast massage:
1: Breast Massage Reduces The Risk Of Breast Cancer
2: Increases Breast Size
3: Prevents Sagging
4: Helps You Look Younger
5: Increases Pleasure
6: Lifts Stress and Depression

More benefits clink the link http://natureharmony.ie/services/
Full price 20 minutes €40, special offer price €30 only. €120 for 6 sessions. €220 for 12 sessions. If you are a male, you can recommend your girlfriend/wife to be here to try it. These two offers will be…

The complaint said that ”the claims had no scientific basis and could not be supported”.

The advertisers apologised and advised that they did not want to break any laws. They said that they would cooperate with the ASAI and would change their advertising. 

The Committee noted that the advertisers had expressed a willingness to amend their advertising, but had not yet done so. The Committee noted that they had not provided any substantiation for the claims made in their advertising.

On the company’s website, which offers alternative therapeutic services, it currently advertises it breast massage service as:

• Breast Massage Could Reduce The Risk Of Breast Cancer: Scientific research shows that massaging your breasts helps fight cancer. In fact, “nipple stimulation encourages blood flow and promotes the production of a useful female hormone, which encourages cells to expel cancer-causing chemicals from breast ducts,” says Professor Tim Murrell, of the Department of Community Medicine, at the University of Adelaide(1).
• It Could Increase Breast Size Slightly: When the breast tissue is stimulated by educated massage, the body secretes the hormone prolactin which slightly enlarges the breasts with specific oils (3)(4).
• Breast Massage Could Prevent Sagging: Breast massage lifts the breasts by tightening and toning the tendons and muscles responsible for breast length with specific oils (2)(5).

Other complaints

Bia Belle Beauty Bia Belle Beauty

The Authority also upheld complaints against a beauty site for advertising mink-fur lashes as “cruelty free”.

The Bia Belle Beauty site claimed said in the FAQ section of its site: ”Are the lashes cruelty-free? Yes, all of our lashes are made cruelty-free.” The description for the ‘Lolly’ lashes was: “3D Faux Mink Category” and “cruelty-free”.

Four complaints were made about the advertisement.

Objections were raised against the mink lashes as ‘cruelty-free’ on the grounds that it was not possible that hair obtained from a mink, a wild animal, could be ‘cruelty-free’ as it was being caged. One complainant referred to the fact that the lashes were imported from China where animal cruelty laws did not compare to those in the EU.

One complainant objected to the description of the ‘Lolly’ lashes as faux mink when the advertisers had stated in a conversation on Instagram that the ‘Lolly’ lashes were mink.

The company said that in talks with its suppliers it had received the following cruelty-free guarantee:

Our mink fur eyelash is made of 100% mink fur. The mink has not been killed, the hair is only cut down. It’s cruelty-free. We hereby certify!

They said that the description of the product as faux-mink was a genuine mistake.

The ASAI upheld the complaints against the “cruelty-free” description. In relation to the description of the ‘Lolly’ lashes as “faux mink”, the ASAI noted that this had been an error which had been corrected.

Based on information supplied by the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, which was that an animal fur product was “incompatible” with the principle of “cruelty-free” and therefore, such a product could never claim to be a “cruelty-free” product, the complaints were upheld.

The ASAI also upheld a complaint against a Limerick gym/bootcamp advert for using before-and-after images.

A complaint was made against Andrew Beatty Fitness in Limerick, which claimed that the advertisers had copied the content of his advertising from another source, including a similar webpage. The complaint said that this was misleading, as it didn’t advertise the results of the fitness campaign.

The company replied to explain that “they worked with another company who licence their templates to gym owners”, which resulted in similarities.

The ASAI upheld the complaint: “The Complaints Committee noted that substantiation had not been provided to show that the featured customers had achieved their results through working with the advertisers.”