DSSRC Administrative Closure #99

The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC) contacted a direct selling company regarding three Facebook post disseminated by its salesforce members. The subject claims and social media posts came to DSSRC’s attention pursuant to its independent monitoring of advertising in the direct selling marketplace. 

Specifically, DSSRC expressed concern that the social media posts communicated the message that the Company’s products can protect users from a number of serious health-related conditions including COVID-19. The first post included a list of conditions that can be treated by the Company’s products including Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cancer. The second post was Spanish-speaking and depicted an image of a man’s hand stopping a large coronavirus particle and was accompanied by text stating that the product will strengthen the immune system by raising gluten levels. The third post included language stating that antioxidants in the product can protect against heart disease. 

Upon being notified of the posts and DSSRC’s concerns, the Company immediately alerted the salesforce members responsible for the posts and informed them that the claims disseminated in the posts were not unauthorized. The Company advised DSSRC that its products are not intended to treat the serious health-related conditions stated in the posts and, as such, took prompt action to address DSSRC’s concerns by demanding that salesforce members disable the posts. Shortly after being contacted by the Company, DSSRC confirmed that the posts were no longer active. Based upon the Company’s prompt removal of all of the posts at issue, DSSRC administratively closed its inquiry.

(closed on 11/03/2020)