THE advertising watchdog has rapped an online detox clinic for suggesting one of its treatments can beat Covid-19.
The Detox Clinic Ltd – the-detox-clinic.com – displayed a banner at the top of the page which stated “Ozone proven to beat COVID-19!”.
And a web page titled “Colon Hydrotherapy” suggested the treatment “can be useful in helping with conditions such as: … Irritable Bowel Syndrome”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint which alleged both claims were misleading.
The Detox Clinic Ltd said the first claim was accompanied by a link to Italian, Spanish and Chinese clinical studies that they said proved that ozone therapy was beating Covid-19.
They added that their clients could read the newspaper announcements and details of those clinical trials to make up their own minds.
The clinic said the ad did not claim to “treat” irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but rather mentioned “relief from the symptoms of IBS”.
But the ASA upheld both complaints.
They said consumers were likely to interpret the claim “Ozone proven to beat COVID-19” to mean that ozone therapy was a successful treatment for Covid-19 in people who tested positive for the virus.
And they considered consumers were likely to understand that colon hydrotherapy could relieve symptoms of IBS, which would be seen as meaning that it could treat those symptoms.
The ASA ordered that the ad must not appear again in the form complained of.
They told The Detox Clinic Ltd not to claim that ozone therapy could successfully treat Covid-19 unless unless they held sufficient evidence for this.
They also told the clinic to ensure that they did not state or imply that colon hydrotherapy could help treat all symptoms of IBS unless they held sufficient evidence for this.
