Overview:
Coconut pulling oil product claiming to reverse cavities gets a checkup from the NAD.
GuruNanda Gets a Check Up
GuruNanda is a personal and oral care company that offers the products Coconut + Mint Pulling Oil and Cocomint Pulling Oil with 7 Essential Oils. Coconut oil has antimicrobial properties, making it an ingredient in various holistic products, and has been used as a folk remedy in India for improving oral health. Certain oils also have antibacterial properties.
Oral Essentials manufactures oral health products under the Lumineux brand. Lumineux offers a suite of all-natural products, including tooth whitening products, mouthwash, and toothpaste. Ads from both GuruNanda and Oral Essentials focus on their products being antimicrobial and antibacterial. Oral Essentials brought a complaint to the NAD challenging certain claims, made by influencers and on the GuruNanda page, that GuruNanda’s products “naturally reverse a cavity” and “reverse cavities.”
NAD Decides
The NAD’s decision, handed down through the Fast-Track SWIFT process, concluded that GuruNanda should discontinue its use of claims that its products reverse cavities. GuruNanda agreed to discontinue its influencer and other campaigns promoting this claim.
This decision and challenge underscore the importance of substantiating claims that are made by third parties, such as influencers. Even claims made by influencers and not directly produced by a brand must be substantiated to withstand regulatory scrutiny.
From influencer marketing to product labeling, claims must be substantiated, or advertisers risk costly challenges. MMR Strategy Group performs advertising claim substantiation to help brands make compelling claims that withstand scrutiny from competitors, courts, and regulators.