CARU Reviews Ads for Maya ‘Orbeez Body Spa,’ Recommends Advertiser Discontinue ‘Stress-Relief’ Claim

New York, NY – June 10,  2015 – The Children’s Advertising Review Unit has recommended that the Maya Group, Inc., discontinue stress-reduction claims for Orbeez Body Spa. The company has agreed to do so.

CARU is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. It is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The Spa is an inflatable lounge chair that the user fills with Orbeez pellets, small superabsorbent pellets that swell to more than 100 times their original size when soaked in water. The product features a vibration action and pouches that can be filled with Orbeez. The Spa comes with 6,000 Orbeez.

The 15-second commercial showed two girls sitting at a desk, looking stressed and exasperated. As the commercial progresses, they are seen in their Spa chairs, smiling and looking relaxed.

CARU questioned whether:

• The commercial accurately depicted the number of pellets that come with the initial purchase of the product
• Whether the product required an air pump or other device not included with the initial purchase
• Whether the advertiser could substantiate the implied claim that the  Spa would reduce stress

CARU noted in its decision that the product did come with a significant number of pellets and could be inflated without any external device. CARU determined that the commercial was not misleading with regard to the amount of pellets included with an initial purchase and found the advertiser had need to disclose that the use of any additional devices is necessary to facilitate product use.

However, CARU determined that the evidence did not support the advertiser’s stress-reduction claim and recommended that the claim be discontinued.

The Maya Group, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company would “discontinue the stress reduction claim in future airings of this commercial.”