The National Advertising Division has recommended that Dr. Harold Katz, LLC, discontinue certain advertising claims -- challenged by GlaxoSmithKline --- for the company's Therabreath Dry Mouth Treatment products, including claims that the products "relieve" or "fight" dry mouth symptoms. The company said it will appeal NAD's adverse findings to the National Advertising Review Board.
The advertiser in this case relied primarily on consumer-use surveys and studies on certain ingredients as support for its health-performance claims. NAD took issue with certain features of the consumer-use surveys, including a failure to properly determine whether survey respondents displayed symptoms of dry mouth. NAD determined the advertiser did not submit sufficient evidence that the products at issue in the ingredient studies it provided had active ingredients in the same dosage and formulation as TheraBreath products.