Galderma India Private Limited - Cetaphil

Recommendation: Not Upheld | Medium: General Public

The ASCI had approached the advertiser for its response in addressing the grievances of the complainant and forwarded the details of the complaint, verbatim, to the advertiser with a request to respond to the same. The advertiser was offered an option to seek an Informal Resolution (IR) of the complaint by modifying or withdrawing the claim in the advertisement, or alternately to substantiate the claim with supporting data. The advertiser was also offered an opportunity for a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat, which they did not avail and requested for an extension of time to submit their detailed response. The deadlines stipulated by Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) procedure exist keeping in mind the immediate and widespread impact that advertisements have on the public. Consequently, any action which is needed to be taken with respect to the same is required to be prompt and urgent. It is for this purpose that the deadlines, as stipulated, are set for advertisers/broadcasters etc, and the CCC itself makes it a priority to deal with every complaint before it as expeditiously as possible. However, the advertiser was granted an extension of additional two business days to respond. The advertiser in their response stated that, “The claim "dermatologist recommended" is grounded on extensive research and validation by qualified dermatologists. As per IQVIA Medical Audit, which covers Metro and Class 1 towns, Cetaphil Moisturizer is recommended by an average of 1000+ Dermatologists* annually across India for the period of April’21 to March’24”. As claim support data, the advertiser provided copy of artwork of the product packaging, License Retention letter for the product, excel sheet for IQVIA data. The advertiser then had a telecon with the ASCI Secretariat, and subsequently they submitted letters from IQVIA as claim substantiation documents. The advertiser’s response along with the claim support data was referred to an Independent technical expert of ASCI for an opinion in the matter. The expert’s opinion was then shared with the advertiser for making additional submissions. Following the receipt of the expert opinion, the advertiser did not provide any further data. The CCC viewed the Website advertisement (https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01ER4HR4Q) considered the complaint and the advertiser’s response. The CCC observed that the advertiser has made the claim based on the medical audit carried out by IQVIA. The CCC discussed that according to IQVIA's statistics, over a thousand dermatologists prescribe the `Cetaphil moisturizer’ in a single year. This conclusion has been consistent over all of the years 2020–2023. Similarly during the course of a single year, more than 500 dermatologists prescribed the `Cetaphil moisturizing lotion’ for the same years. The CCC further discussed that the IQVIA data shared by the advertiser confirms that the advertised product - `Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion’ is genuinely prescribed by a substantial percentage of dermatologists. Based on the advertiser’s response with the supporting data provided, the CCC concluded that the product packaging claim in the advertisement, and the advertisement claim, “Dermatologist Recommended” was substantiated. The said claim is not in contravention of Chapter I of the ASCI Code. This complaint was NOT UPHELD.