Immoral but not really false advertising?

Question

I just heard a commerical on the radio advertizing a tanning salon. In the commercial in goes in depth how tanning provides you with vitamin d and how that is good for you (elaborates on calcium and muscle production). Now I know it's true Vitamin D is a vital nutiriant best gotten from the sun...like 10 minutes of non tanning bed strength exposure. Basically if you walk outside ever in the day your covered. Anyhow they make it sound like tanning is healthy and completely ignore the other dangers. It's like when freaking sodas or gummy bears advertize Fat Free! It really burns me, its just not fair and its duping the poor public who might not know better. I'm positive if Marlboro came out with "smoking helps cure child hood obesity" they'd be sued so fast they couldn't see straight...but I don't see how its any different. What is the legality of this?

Answer 1

I think you pretty much nailed it.  I don't have anything to add.

Note: you don't "get vitamin D from the sun," the rays just activate your melatonin receptors (skin pigment) or something to that effect.  Just a technicality.

Answer 2

Welcome to the wonderful world of advertising!

Technically speaking, gummy bears are fat-free, and therefore can be advertised as such.

Tanning booths do provide vitamin D, and therefore technically can be branded as providing those nutrients.  

Morals, unfortunately are relative to the person making the advertising decision, and therefore advertising such as this exists.

Could you imagine a world where the person creating the advertising has to believe 100% in their product or service before they're willing to create an ad?  For one thing, we would be bombarded with far less materials.

I have been asked over the course of my career to provide advertising services to companies I didn't exactly believe in and it's always been a judgement call on if I want to be a part of it... versus the money spent. I'm proud to say that I usually choose to advertise those things I believe in.

The tobacco industry has been faced with many lawsuits because their products actually kill people.  They've been banned from marketing to children, and this was a special case.  Should the tanning bed and company decide to market to children and provide outrageous claims then they would be subject to the same litigation.  At the moment, the tanning that company is merely putting a positive spin on their product.

Answer 3

Vitamin D3 is produced in skin exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B radiation. So the sad thing is, although tanning beds are horribly unhealthy for you... the advertisement is not actually lying about anything. All they are doing is pointing out the "positives" and disregarding the side effects.

It's like diet coke... sure there is no fat and zero calories, but hey, the artificial sweetener they use instead of sugar can give you cancer! Or milk for that matter... it does more bad than good, but how many people actually know better?

It's up to the individual to decide where their values are... health or appearance?

I guess the sad thing is, it's usually appearance that wins.

Answer 4

You're right, it's not very ethical but not illegal either.

In advertising, it's all about "spin." So long as what you say is not a falsehood that can be proven to be purposely deceptive, the advertiser is pretty much safe. There have been many cases in the past where the company has flat out lied, but once it's challenged and proven to be a lie, they are violating the law if they continue. Then they are subject to some steep fines - or worse.

It used to be a lot worse. In the late 1800s "healers" would travel the country selling bottles of miracle cures from the back of a wagon. Mostly this was just grain alcohol, but sometimes they mixed in some pretty awful ingredients like horse urine or rattle snake venom! There was no regulation or recourse and they could say pretty much anything they wanted.

In the case of your tanning salon, if they can scientifically substantiate that their service helps people obtain their necessary dose of vitamin D, then there's not a whole lot anyone can do about it. Just like the cereal companies say eating their product will help lower your cholesterol. Or every car has the best safety record. All it takes is one stat that the agency or company can spin into a benefit, and they try to convince the world they are #1.

Just remember the old saying, "caveat emptor!"