NAD Recommends Intraceuticals Discontinue Challenged Claims for ‘Atoxelene’ Products

New York, NY – May 18, 2016 – The National Advertising Division has recommended that Intraceuticals LLC discontinue certain express and implied claims for the company’s Atoxelene Skin Care Products and Atoxelene Line Wand, including claims that the products work “instantly.”  Meanwhile, the advertiser has said it will work to have certain other claims for its products removed from a third-party website that it does not control.

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

As part of its ongoing monitoring program, NAD requested the advertiser provide substantiation for its advertising claims. In response to NAD’s initial inquiry, the advertiser asserted that certain of the claims at issue were being made by an online retailer and not be Intraceuticals in its own advertising for the product.  Intraceuticals represented that it has asked the online retailer to discontinue such claims requested that the claims, including a product video, be removed.

Claims made directly by the company for Atoxelene Skin Care Products include:

• “Instantly reduce the visible signs of premature skin aging.  Results accumulate with continued use”
• “Atoxelene Line Wand contains a concentrated skin smoothing complex that targets the appearance of expression lines and wrinkles without loss of facial expression. Smooths and visibly reduces the way fine lines and wrinkles look without pain in a portable, take anywhere applicator.”

The advertiser argued these claims are supported by testing on ingredients in the product as well as small scale studies on the Atoxelene Line Wand.  The advertiser explained that

one of the active ingredients in the Atoxelene Skin Care Products is Biocare Polymer, a highly charged polyionic protein soluble in aqueous solutions.  It argued that the Biocare Polymer albumin forms a film which lifts the wrinkle furrows to the level of surrounding skin by means of contractile tension.

Following its review of the evidence in the record, NAD determined that the advertiser had failed to provide a reasonable basis for its claims and recommended that the claims be discontinued.

Intraceuticals, in its advertiser’s statement, said it “accepts the NAD’s decision in its entirety and agrees to modify/discontinue the advertising in accordance with NAD’s recommendations.  We appreciate NAD efforts in reaching a decision  and its consideration of Intraceuticals’ testing data.”

Note: A recommendation by NAD to modify or discontinue a claim is not a finding of wrongdoing and an advertiser’s voluntary discontinuance or modification of claims should not be construed as an admission of impropriety. It is the policy of NAD not to endorse any company, product, or service. Decisions finding that advertising claims have been substantiated should not be construed as endorsements.