ADVERTISING BOARD PRESS RELEASE REVIEW NOVEMBER 2023
The Advertising Board (“Board”) publishes its evaluations on advertisements made on platforms such as social media, websites, etc. through Press Bulletins every month, and imposes sanctions such as administrative fines and suspension of such advertisements.
The 339th Press Bulletin (“Bulletin”) of the Advertising Board, published in November 2023, consists of 176 decisions and various headings such as communication services, durable consumer goods and technology, cosmetics and cleaning products, unfair commercial practices, financial services, food and food supplements, health services, and disguised advertising. Within this framework, in this review, it has been tried to include the interesting decisions in the Bulletin and especially the decisions imposing administrative fines.
Communication Services & Other Goods and Services
In the review before the Board due to a camera advertisement published on HepsiBurada website, it was stated that a promise was made that a gift would be sent with the advertised product, however, if a discount was applied by the consumer for the product, the gift was not sent with this justification. In the evaluation, it was decided to impose an administrative fine of 347,128 TRY and a fine of suspension of the aforementioned advertisements on D-Market Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret A.Ş. since it was evaluated that the advertisement in question, which was contrary to the principle of truthfulness and honesty, was deceptive and misleading to consumers.
In the advertisement published on Karaca’s website, the pre-discount price that emerges when the discount stated by the company and the prices without discount are calculated does not reflect the reality, therefore, the advertisements do not comply with the provision of the Regulation on Commercial Advertisements and Unfair Commercial Practices (“Regulation”) stating that “in determining the sales price of a good or service before the discount, the lowest price applied within thirty days before the date of the discount is taken as basis. ” provision of the Regulation (“Regulation”); in addition, stock quantities and the start and end dates of the campaign were not included for the product offered for sale, and the advertisements were considered to be misleading to consumers and contrary to the principles of fair competition, Karaca Züccaciye Ticaret ve Sanayi. A.Ş. was imposed an administrative fine of 347,128 TL and a fine to stop the aforementioned advertisements.
It was decided to impose an administrative fine of 347,128 TRY and a penalty of 347,128 TRY on Kitapyurdu Yayıncılık ve İletişim A.Ş. and to suspend the aforementioned advertisements, as it was stated that the book Şeker Portakalı was sold at a discount on the website of Kitap Yurdu, the start and end dates of the discounted sale and if the amount of the goods or services offered for sale at a discount is limited, this amount should be clearly and understandably stated, but the documents proving that the amount determined as the pre-discount price in the advertisements and understood to be the publisher list price was the lowest price in the last 30 days could not be submitted to the Ministry.
On the websites of BKM Kitap, Hepsi Burada, Kitap Seç and Tam Adres, the same book was offered for sale at a discount and similarly, it was evaluated that discount advertisements were made in a misleading and deceptive manner, and the relevant companies were imposed an administrative fine of 128 TL and a penalty of stopping the aforementioned advertisements.
Cosmetics and Cleaning Products
In the advertisements for a care cream on La Roche Posay’s website, it was evaluated that the impression was created that the products of the company have therapeutic properties such as medicines by including the statements “The brand most prescribed by dermatologists”, and in this context, consumers were misled, and Loreal Türkiye Kozmetik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. was imposed an administrative fine of 347,128 TL and a penalty of 347,128 TL and suspension of the aforementioned advertisements.
The statements regarding the treatment and indication of the products of R&S Cosmetics, which are advertised on Trendyol’s website, are considered to be misleading and exceed the definition of cosmetic products; In addition, if the aforementioned products are capable of proving the claims stated in the aforementioned advertisements, in this case, they should be licensed within the scope of “human medicinal product” or “medicine”, not within the scope of “cosmetic product”, and the advertising of products that should be evaluated within the scope of “human medicinal product” or “medicine” is not in accordance with the legislation, therefore, under all circumstances, it has been evaluated that such promotions made regarding the product in question constitute a violation of the current legislation and Rise And Shine Kozmetik İthalat İhracat Sanayi Ticaret ve A. Ş. was imposed an administrative fine of 347.128 TL and a fine to stop the aforementioned advertisements.
Unfair Commercial Practices
In the poster titled “100th Year Festivities of our Republic” hung by Şok Market, it was decided to impose an administrative fine of 701 TL and to suspend the aforementioned advertisements on Şok Marketler Ticaret A.Ş., since it was evaluated that the advertisement regarding the discounted sale of the product in question was deceptive and misleading to consumers with the expression “Super Deals in October in a Total of 1000 Products” and the prices of various products before and after the discount, but the cash price of the product was stated as the price before the discount.
In addition to Şok Marketler, which was fined separately for many different products due to discrepancies between pre and post-discount product pricing and cash register prices, similar fines were imposed on Hakmar for the same reason, Migros for not applying the discount in the advertisement brochure at the cash register, and Mopaş, which did not include the pre-discount prices of the products despite stating that there was a discount, due to deceptive and misleading advertisements.
Food and Food Supplements
In the product promotions made on the website of CNR İlaç, the health declarations permitted for various nutrients, substances, foods or food categories are listed in the Annex-1 list of the “Guideline on the Use of Health Declarations in Food and Supplementary Foods” prepared on the basis of the Regulation on the Use of Health Declarations in Food and Supplementary Foods, which entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette dated 04.2023 and numbered 32169, but the health declarations permitted for various nutrients, substances, foods or food categories are listed in the Annex-1 list, however, it was evaluated that the health declarations permitted by the legislation were exceeded with the statements in the promotions under review, and CNR Tıbbi Ürünler İlaç Sanayi ve Ticaret A. Ş. was imposed an administrative fine of 347,128 TL and a suspension of the aforementioned advertisements.
In the advertisements regarding the products belonging to Pharma Gıda, which are advertised on Trendyol’s website, indicating that the said products help the treatment process of various health problems that are described as diseases in the field of medicine by causing changes in human physiology, or that they treat these problems, indicating indications, containing health declarations and statements that need scientific proof are used, in this direction, it has been evaluated that the promotion of the relevant products as a drug or human medical product before consumers in the aforementioned advertisements is deceptive and misleading and Pharma Aktif Gıda ve Kozmetik Ltd. Şti. was imposed an administrative fine of 347,128 TL and a suspension of the aforementioned advertisements.
Similarly, in the promotions made by the channel named “Asido Turkey” on Youtube’s platform, it was decided to impose an administrative fine of 388,526 TL and a penalty to stop the aforementioned advertisements on Humanis Sağlık A.Ş., since it was evaluated that the flame and burning visuals used in the advertisement related to stomach acid / stomach burning were exaggerated and could cause anxiety in consumers.
It should be noted that the administrative fine imposed on Humanis Sağlık A.Ş. is the highest administrative fine in the relevant Bulletin and the only administrative fine above one million.
It should be noted that in the probiotic advertisements made on the social media account named Enterogermina Turkey via the Instagram platform, notifications containing health claims were also made, in addition, within the scope of the Regulation on the Use of Health Claims in Foods and Food Supplements, which is also referred to in the decision against CNR İlaç, the use of permitted health claims should directly refer to the nutrient or food component for which the use of health claims is permitted; while the health claims that can be used for probiotic microorganisms in the advertisements are used directly with reference to Enterogermina,
In addition to these; the expression “World’s Choice No: 1 Probiotic” stated in the advertisements creates the perception that the said product is superior to its counterparts in the eyes of consumers and causes comparison, and therefore, “Comparative advertising of supplementary foods cannot be made in any way.” It was decided to impose an administrative fine of 347,128 TL and a suspension of the aforementioned advertisements on Opella Healthcare Tüketici Sağlığı A.Ş.
Healthcare Services
In the advertisements published on MedicaLife’s website and Facebook platform under the account name medicalifeestetik, although the company is not a health institution, it makes promotions for health services and includes the phrase “aesthetic” in the name of the organisation,
In the promotions made on the social media account named rixosbeautyclinic on the Instagram platform, similarly, notifications were made that medical applications were made and campaigns for medical procedures that are prohibited in beauty salons were included, and it was stated that it was a “beauty centre” in its promotions,
In the promotions published on the social media account named adaguzellikmerkezi on the Instagram platform, it was determined that the name of the establishment was included as “beauty centre”, some medical procedures were listed and treatment images of patients were shared.
In the relevant three decisions; In the section titled “J-Beauty Salons” of Annex-1 of the Regulation on Workplace Opening and Operation Licenses, the provision “16.1-In the promotional advertisements, signboards and printed documents of beauty salons, expressions that will evoke the beauty centre cannot be used and the expression ‘beauty salon’ is clearly used.” regulates that the names of the establishments should be clearly stated as “salon” in the promotions of beauty salons to be published in all kinds of media,
However, it has been evaluated that the organisations create the impression that they operate in the field of health, that the medical procedures in question should be applied under the control of a doctor and within health institutions, and that even in this scenario, the promotion of the relevant medical procedures by authorised persons is prohibited by the legislation,
It was decided to impose an administrative fine of 347.128 TL on Medicalife Estetik ve Beauty Services Ltd. Şti. and DK Derma Klas Beauty Construction Tourism Trade Ltd. Şti. and an administrative fine of 155.712 TL on Esra ADAL EMEN and to suspend the aforementioned advertisements.
In the promotions published on the social media account named drveyselozturk on the Instagram platform, notifications were made regarding smart lens treatment, and in the comments on the relevant social media page, “…# 1st day afterlasiksurgery: there was no postoperative pain stinging burning. When I woke up in the morning, I saw as if I had glasses. I was very satisfied…I highly recommend Veysel Hoca to everyone who uses glasses and lenses…”,
Similarly, on the website of İhsan Oruk, many patient comments were included under the heading “Patient Comments” and the doctor was recommended,
In the promotions of a health institution published on the social media account named ozelyesilyurtdent on the Instagram platform, “A visible transformation… Change is possible…20% Discount Special for Mother’s Day…”, similar campaign information, praising and recommending patient comments and images of patients before and after treatment were included.
In this framework; it was decided that the promotions made through online platforms such as websites and social media accounts and the expressions and images included as a result of patient comments created a demand for the services offered and gave a commercial appearance to the activities of persons and organisations working in the field of health, therefore, the said promotions should be considered as “advertisements” by exceeding the information limit permitted by the health legislation, and it was decided to impose an administrative fine of 347,128 TL and a fine to stop the aforementioned advertisements on the relevant persons and organisations.
Disguised Advertisement
In the promotions published on the social media account named elvin on the Instagram platform, praising and promotional statements are included on the page regarding the “eightcolor” branded product, which is determined to belong to the person, and the website and Instagram account are directed to the website and Instagram account to purchase the products, but in the posts published in the social media account subject to the review, consumers are not clearly informed about the advertisement while promoting, no advertisement phrase is included, thus it has been evaluated that the implicit advertisement of the said brand has been made, and Elvin LEVINLER HACIÖMEROĞLU has been fined 347. 128 TL administrative fine and suspension of the aforementioned advertisements.
In the promotions made on the social media account named umrantoo on the Instagram platform, the evaluations in the previous decision were made and the “Mrs. Umrantoo” branded products belonging to the person, however, it was evaluated that the promotion of the products in question as a medicine or human medical product by including statements for treatment and indication of the relevant products subject to cosmetic legislation, including claims that are in the nature of health declarations and need scientific proof, constitutes a deceptive and misleading nature, and it was decided to impose an administrative fine and a penalty to stop the aforementioned advertisements on Ümran AVCU.
GRC LEGAL Comment
When the decisions of the Advertising Board are analysed, it can be observed that promotions for many sectors and applications are evaluated. In particular, it can be said that the Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Healthcare Services, which has entered into force in recent months, has caused many professionals operating under the heading of healthcare services to enter the radar, and specifically patient comments and before-and-after photographs are evaluated in a delicate balance.
While the fact that the discount made on a certain book on platforms that sell books over the internet is brought to the agenda with a one-to-one application on more than one platform selling books, especially the question of whether these platforms make a joint decision at the point of price determination and discount, it is seen that the discrepancies between the discount brochures regularly shared by the markets and the cash register prices are not overlooked.
In addition to all these sectors, it would not be wrong to comment that the activities of “influencers”, in other words, social media influencers, which we can call social media phenomena and which we can easily consider as a separate line of business today, are subject to strict control, and brand promotions that may mislead consumers are approached with scepticism.
Kind regards,
GRC|LEGAL
