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'Conception-Boosting’ Vitamin Pill Advert Banned For Misleading Couples Trying For A Baby

An advert for a vitamin supplement designed to help women get pregnant has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for making claims it can’t back up

For women who are trying – and struggling – to conceive, taking Pregnacare Conception vitamin pills may seem like a option worth trying. It couldn’t hurt, right?  

But while it’s not been proven whether the product itself could boost a woman’s fertility chances, the print advert for it has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after suggesting that it will help couples conceive a baby.

The advert made it seem like women would get pregnant from taking the vitamins [Rex]
The advert made it seem like women would get pregnant from taking the vitamins [Rex]



The advert for the conception tablets reads, “For women who are trying for a baby. Zinc contributes to normal fertility and reproduction. Plus 20 nutrients including folic acid, vitamins B12 and D.”

While experts may believe zinc can boost a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, it’s the image of a sperm entering an egg that really riled up readers who complained about it.

The two readers argued that the claims the advert made were not authorised on the EU register of nutrition and health claims, reports The Guardian.

The brand behind the product, Vitabiotics, has hit back at claims that the advert is misleading saying that it was meant to show the product was suitable for women trying to conceive.

But they acknowledged that there was no authorised claim on the EU register that a particular nutrient can help women get pregnant.

Viabiotics defended the product’s name, too, saying that it wasn’t a claim in itself because it explained when the product should be used.

The Pregnacare product looks the same as the press advert [Vitabiotics]
The Pregnacare product looks the same as the press advert [Vitabiotics]



The ASA said the reason for banning the advert was that only health claims listed as authorised on the EU register were permitted in marketing food, including supplement.

“We considered that those aspects of the ad particularly, in combination with the product name and images of the sperm and egg and the smiling couple, resulted in an overall impression that the supplement could assist or increase the likelihood of conceiving, providing a ‘boost’ in fertility and reproduction to above-normal levels and thus playing a significant role in making any woman who took the product more likely to become pregnant,” says the ASA.

“Because there were no authorised health claims that the product, or any of its constituent substances, could assist or increase the likelihood of conception, we concluded the ad was in breach of the code.

“We told Vitabiotics Ltd to ensure their ads did not include stated or implied unauthorised health claims in future.”

What do you think – is the advert deceiving? Let us know in the comments.


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