BBB National Programs Archive

NAD Examines Advertising For University Medical’s WrinkleFree At Home Wrinkle Reversal System

New York, NY – June 14, 2007 – The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has recommended that University Medical Pharmaceuticals Corporation modify certain claims for its WrinkleFree At Home Wrinkle Reversal System to avoid conveying the impression that the topical cream and serum will produce the same results as more invasive options, such as injections.

Advertising for the Wrinkle Reversal System came to the attention of NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, through NAD’s routine monitoring program.

Claims at issue included:

  • “The First Topical Replacement for Botox & Restylane”
  • “NEW No Needles Molecular Penetration Technology”
  • “Replace Botox to RELAX Facial Wrinkles with GABA, the natural muscle relaxer found in your own bodies.”
  • “Replace Restylane to FILL IN Facial Wrinkles with Hyaluronic Acid, as does Restylane”

NAD examined also the implied claim that the advertised topical cosmetics will produce the same results as Botox and Restylane injections.

NAD, in its decision noted that it is “mindful of the ever-increasing demand for anti-aging products” on the part of an aging population. Recent advertising for anti-aging products has featured strong performance claims that compare such products to surgical and other medical procedures and NAD “has expressed  a great deal of concern about such comparisons,” the decision states.

Following its review of the evidence in the record, NAD determined that the advertiser did not provide reasonable support for the claims at issue and recommended the claims be modified.

University Medical, in its advertiser’s statement, said it “accepts NAD’s recommendations and will modify its advertising and packaging accordingly.”