PR: ERSP Reviews Advertising for Bosom Max; Marketer Fails to Provide Sufficient Evidence for Claims

The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) has determined that Total Media Market has not provided adequate support for performance and establishment claims made in direct response advertising for Bosom Max.

ERSP, the electronic direct-response industry’s self-regulatory forum, is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) with policy oversight by the National Advertising Review Council (NARC).

The marketer’s advertising came to ERSP’s attention pursuant to its ongoing monitoring program.

Claims at issue in the initial inquiry included:

• “The electrostatic vibrations of the BOSOM MAX brassiere stimulate breast tissues, help increase the circulation of blood & lymphatic fluid, and increase muscle mass to lift up your breasts and enlarge their size!”
• “Those vibrations also generate contractions of the pectoral muscles, increasing muscle mass to firm up and lift sagging breasts, and increasing their size.”
• “…results are quick and permanent.”
• “Proven with Clinical Studies!”
• “With its high concentration of phytoestrogens, the Bosom Max cream helps to increase the elasticity and firmness of breast tissues. Those same phytoestrogens can also help reduce the effects of menopause, and may even help to protect against breast cancer.”
• "Specifically formulated with natural ingredients of potent nourishing and revitalizing qualities, FirmMax is the ideal solution to firm up, lift, and restore a more youthful appearance to yours breasts and gluts.”
• “Aside from the innovative brassiere, the BOSOM MAX capsules supply the breasts with essential nutrients needed for proper growth, and the BOSOM MAX cream helps to increase elasticity of the skin to avoid stretch marks during the breast enhancement process.”
• "But with Bosom Max I increased in size from a 34-B to a 34-D!” [Consumer Testimonial]

At the outset of the inquiry, Total Media Market removed the claim that Bosom Max was “featured on” news programs and in magazines, and modified the statement on the Bosom Max website. The marketer also provided evidence to support the claim that “Scientists in Asia studied the reduction of tumors and lumps in women with electrostatic vibrations, and discovered that massages with low-frecuency [sic] stimulation and vibrations to the breasts also produced as a result surprising increase in the size and firmness of breasts in women who wore the vibrations-producing brassiere for a few days.”

Although the marketer provided two studies of a device that simulated the Bosom Max brassiere, ERSP determined that the testing reports submitted by Total Media Market were not sufficient to support claims that the product is clinically proven to perform.  In light of the fact that the marketer failed to submit evidence to ERSP that would demonstrate a reasonable basis for the performance and establishment claims communicated by the advertising, ERSP recommended that the marketer modify or discontinue almost of the all performance and establishment claims in its advertising. ERSP also recommended that the marketer discontinue consumer testimonial claims communicating a specific increase in breast size.

ERSP forwarded a copy of its determination to the marketer requesting a statement as to whether Total Media Market agreed to discontinue the advertising claims that were the subject of the self-regulatory inquiry; however, the marketer did not respond to ERSP’s request for a Marketer’s Statement. Accordingly, this matter will be referred to the appropriate governmental agencies for review and possible law enforcement action pursuant to section 3.1(D) of the Electronic Retailing Self Regulation Program Policy & Procedures.