Advertising promoting sale of information and a product

No. 160. Advertising promoting sale of information and a product. The Commission issued anach'isol'Y opinion today in regard to the legality of proposed adyertising promoting the sale of information which in turn advocated the purchase of anallegec1 stomach remedy. The individual requesting the opinion had no financial interest in or contractua.lright to advertise the product in question. The initial advertise.1nent offered the sale of information for 20 cents and elaimed that the information '.-vonld enable one "to get that nervous stomach functioning properly again." Based upon the scientific information available to it, the CO1:llnission ruled that the pl'oduet being ac1,-oeate.d in the information being sold "as not in fact a cure or treatment for nervous stomach or any other stomach ailment. Under the eircumstances, the Commission concluded that the claim in the initial advertisement "as deceptin:.

Itsopinioll conducTed "ith the. following statement: 'The la'ys ngflim:t dee-eptiye flchertising apply equally to those who fire selling advice or information and to those who are selling products. In either case the test is whether the ndviee (or product) being offered will in fact achieve the results claimed for it in the ad,-ertising. If the ac1Yice recommends the U:3e of a product, the effie-Hey of the pro:~ue:t fol' the use rec01ll1l1endeclll1ust of course also be considered.

This opinion in no WilY relfltes to the question of ",hether your proposal ",ould constitute the practice of medicine 01' to the legality of your doing so. (File No. 663 7009, re.leased Jan. 12, 19G8.