Onesto Labs Private Limited - Bare Anatomy Anti Dandruff Shampoo
Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: Suo Motu - NAMS (TAMS)
Ad description
The advertisement is an Instagram reel promoting Bare Anatomy Anti-Dandruff Shampoo. It highlights winter dandruff and hair fall concerns, presents the shampoo as a solution with Salicylic Acid, Biotin, and Bare Flake Reduction Technology, and claims up to 100% dandruff reduction in three washes. The ad directs users to comment “HAIR” to receive a purchase link.
Issue
Whether the advertiser has substantiated the claims “Salicylic Acid (kills dandruff)” and “3 washes = dandruff gone” with adequate evidence to support the efficacy claims, and whether the influencer advertisement includes appropriate disclosure of the commercial association with the brand.
Advertiser’s Response
The advertiser confirmed that the communication will be labelled as an advertisement and stated that the necessary documentation would be submitted to substantiate the claims.
Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) Assessment
The CCC observed that the advertisement shows an influencer (Mann Vaishnav) promoting the advertiser’s product - `Bare Anatomy Anti Dandruff Shampoo’.
The advertisement does not carry any disclosure labels such as “Advertisement”, "Ad", "Sponsored", "Collaboration", “Partnership”, "Employee", "Free Gift", “Affiliate”, “Includes paid promotion”, at the beginning of the advertisement. The influencer / advertiser have not disclosed details regarding any material connection, monetary or non-monetary between themselves nor does it indicate whether or not the influencer was paid to post the details of the advertiser’s product.
Based on these observations, the CCC concluded that the Instagram advertisement is misleading by omission and exploits consumers’ lack of knowledge.
The CCC further noted that the advertiser did not provide supporting data for the product claims made.
Claim, “Salicylic Acid (kills dandruff)”, was not substantiated with supporting evidence to establish the presence of Salicylic Acid in sufficient quantity in the product. Further, no product composition details, scientific rationale, or studies have been submitted to support the claim that the product kills dandruff.
Claim, “3 washes = dandruff gone”, was not substantiated with clinical evidence of product efficacy or any clinical third party test reports to demonstrate that the use of the product for three washes results in the elimination of dandruff, as claimed.
The CCC concluded that the said claims are misleading by exaggeration and are likely to lead to widespread disappointment in the minds of consumers.
Decision
Claim 1 - “Salicylic Acid (kills dandruff)” – Upheld
Claim 2 - “3 washes = dandruff gone” – Upheld
Influencer disclosure compliance - Upheld
ASCI Code / Guidelines
Claim 1 - Chapter I, Clauses 1.1, 1.4, and 1.5
Claim 2 - Chapter I, Clauses 1.1, 1.4, and 1.5
Influencer disclosure compliance - Chapter I, Clauses 1.4, and 1.5 of the ASCI Code, Clause 1, 1.1(a) and 1.3(a) of the ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media.
