As an Advertising, Marketing and Promotions attorney, part of what I look at during my review of marketing campaigns is the documentation to support products’ labels. The point of doing so is to help marketers minimize risk, but most importantly, help marketers build trust and confidence in their brands. Trust is crucial to building brand loyalty, when trust is broken, as in this case, the damage could be irreparable and costly.

“Consumers are entitled to trust that the products they consume are safe. We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who enable the sale of mislabeled and potentially unsafe dietary supplements.” “Consumers deserve to know exactly what’s in their dietary supplements,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox. “We cannot stand by as supplement companies deceive customers….”

“Americans who choose to take dietary supplements expect that those products are safe and properly labeled,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “Dietary supplement labeling that falsely or misleadingly declares its contents presents a risk to the public, and the FDA will exercise its full authority under the law to bring to justice all those who produce and distribute misbranded dietary supplements.”

Although this is an extreme example of false and misleading advertising and labeling, and probably nobody preparing the marketing campaign could have known of the false ingredients except the marketers, the fact that consumers may have gotten ill, highlights the importance of following best practices of being honest and transparent in labeling and advertising products legally, ethically, and properly in English and Spanish. #substantiationequalstrust #transparencyformstrust #advertisingandmarketinglawyer #hispanicadvertisingandmarketingattorney

For more information, see:  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/five-individuals-and-two-companies-plead-guilty-felony-charges-multimillion-dollar-scheme