Teeth bleaching ads not so black and white
A seller of tooth whitening product has been brought to task after it was found to own a site which positively reviewed its product.
Ecommerce Solutions, seller of Vibrant White -a tooth bleaching product, was found to be running top-teeth-whitening-reviews.com, a site which touted its own product but did not indicate any affiliation with the company.
Media Post News reported that the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) discovered that top-teeth-whitening-reviews.com posted positive reviews of Vibrant White but did not admit any relationship between the site and the company selling the product.
This news was first discovered when Procter & Gamble, the manufacturer of Crest Whitestrips, argued that reviews on Ecommerce Solutions’ site were deceptive.
The Electronic Retailing Self Regulation Program (ESRP), a branch of NARC, indicated its agreement with Procter & Gamble, suggesting that “there was no disclosure on the website indicating that Ecommerce Solutions controls and operates the website”.
The program said that Ecommerce Solutions did not indicate any connection with its products that were reviewed on the site.
ERSP also added that visitors to the site maybe given an impression of the superiority of the Vibrant White.
Now Ecommerce Solutions is apparently “extensively revising” the site and has said it will disclose its affiliations with its products. How kind.
The US Government and Federal Trade Commissions are now looking into their policies about online testimonials.
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