BBB National Programs Archive

Intelligent Beauty Participates In ERSP Forum

New  York, NY – January 16, 2009 – The Electronic Retailing  Self-Regulation  Program (ERSP) has determined  that Intelligent  Beauty,  Inc. has provided  a reasonable  basis for  a  general   establishment   claim,   but  recommended  the  marketer  modify  or discontinue certain claims for the iQ Clear Remedy Acne System.

The marketer’s advertising came to ERSP’s attention pursuant to its ongoing direct response advertising monitoring activities.

ERSP, the electronic direct-response industry’s  self-regulatory  forum, is  administered by   the  Council  of   Better  Business  Bureaus  (CBBB)  with  policy  oversight  by   the National Advertising Review Council (NARC).

ERSP’s  inquiry  focused on claims  included  in both online  advertising  and the product Website. Claims at issue in the ERSP  inquiry included:

  • “Treats, heals and controls even the toughest acne”
  • “97% of users saw no new breakouts!”
  • “91%reported clear skin with no active acne”
  • “87% saw results in just 3 days”
  • “2X’s the acne-clearing power of Proactive”
  • “Clearer skin in just 3 days!”
  • “Clinically Tested and Proven to Work”
  • “Clinically proven  to heal the acne you have and prevent new breakouts
  • “Clear Remedy outperformed Proactiv in a clinical test.  Clear Remedy cleared up acne by  90%. Proactiv only cleared 40%.”

ERSP  determined that the marketer’s clinical test  provided a reasonable basis for the monadic claim that iQ Clear Remedy is “Clinically Tested and Proven To Work.”

 Further,   in  the   course   of   ERSP’s   review,   the  marketer  voluntarily   agreed  to discontinue   the  claims   discontinued   the  claims   “97%  of    users   saw  no  new breakouts!”,  “91% reported clear  skin  with  no active  acne”,  “87% saw results  in just 3 days”,  “2X’s  the acne-cleaning  power of  ProActiv”,  as well as the  before  and  after depictions  presented online  on various  websites  which  purported to represent  the results of product use after three days. The marketer  agreed  also to modify the claim “treats, heals and controls even the toughest acne.”

ERSP  determined  that an unqualified  claim  that iQ  Clear  Remedy provides  “Clearer skin   in  just  3  days!”  was  not  supported   by   the  evidence   in  the   record   and recommended that the marketer either modify or discontinue this claim.

ERSP  determined that the marketer’s clinical test  provided a reasonable basis for the non-comparative  claim  that iQ  Clear  Remedy  is  “Clinically  Tested  and  Proven  To Work” but did  not provide  adequate evidence  to support the claim  that the iQ Clear Remedy is “Clinically proven  to… prevent new breakouts.”

Finally, ERSP  determined that the marketer’s testing data did  not reliably support the comparative claims disseminated in the advertising.

The company,  in its  advertiser’s  statement said  “Although  we respectfully  disagree with ERSP’s conclusions regarding certain comparative claims, Intelligent Beauty will follow  ESRP’s recommendations and modify or discontinue its claims accordingly. Intelligent Beauty is pleased to have participated in ERSP’s self-regulatory process.”