New York, NY – February 16, 2005 – The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (“ERSP”), the electronic direct -response industry’s self-regulatory program supervised by the National Advertising Review Council (“NARC”), announced that direct response marketer Murad, Inc.

provided a reasonable basis for its claims “Get Clear. Stay Clear” for acne,  that the Murad Acne Complex has a “90% success rate” as effectively treating acne conditions, and that the Murad Acne Complex effectively treats the visible factors of breakouts, but did not support a claim that the Murad Acne Complex treats “all of the reasons” why your skin may breakout. ERSP also concluded that the advertising communicated an implied claim that the Murad Acne Complex can effectively “treat” (i.e. cure) the seven specific skin conditions, a representation that was neither intended nor supported by the marketer. The truth and accuracy of the marketer’s claims came to the attention of ERSP through an anonymous competitor challenge.

In the inquiry, ERSP requested that the marketer provide substantiation for several core performance claims that were communicated in the 30-minute advertisement for the Murad Acne Complex. The core claims at issue in the advertisement pertained to: a) the effectiveness of the product to work as a treatment for several very serious skin conditions (Folliculitis, eczema, keratosis pilaris, peri-oral dermatitis, excoree and rosacea); b) the ability of the product to help consumers “Get Clear” and “ Stay Clear” of skin breakouts; c) the ability of  the product to treat “all of the reasons your skin may breakout” and; d) clinical results showing a “90% Success Rate.”

In its response to the determination, the marketer informed ERSP that while it “respectfully disagrees with certain of the conclusions reached by ERSP,” it had already planned to discontinue the infomercial at issue in the subject challenge. Murad did agree to “take the recommendations of the ERSP in to consideration in developing future advertising for the ACNE Complex. ”