After 19 years and six censorship measures, practically nothing has changed. Indeed not. Cogedi gained first place in the rankings for the number of censored advertisements overtaking Wanna Marchi and the supplement Kilocal. The latest advertisements that appeared in Corriere della Sera in the Health insert of 26 January 2023 and 16 February 2023 offer schemes and phrases similar to those of the past. The slogan “water of health” is in the Rocchetta brand and appears on the label of all Uliveto bottles. There’s more: in the advertisement in the newspaper, in support of some characteristics of Rocchetta mineral water, the brands of almost unknown scientific societies appear, such as Sia, the Italian Society of Urology since 19o8, the Italian Society of Dermatology SIDeMast since 1885 and the Urological Association for urinary calculi. The scientific supporter chosen for Uliveto is the Italian Foundation for bone disease research (Firmo). It is worth remembering that in the past some of Cogedi’s advertising messages had been censored precisely because of the presence of logos of scientific societies and other associations.
But let’s proceed in order. The first objection dates back to 2004 (number 211/04) and is signed by the advertising self-regulatory jury which in the sentence considers the statement “«the waters of health» unacceptable because it is misleading. The reference to “health” is completely inappropriate and potentially misunderstanding for the consumer public if it concerns products which, being and remaining simple foods, do not have any therapeutic or preventive properties in and of themselves and have characteristics on average possessed by similar products ”. The decision disputes the use of the article “le” because it underlines how the two waters acquire a character of superiority that they do not possess compared to the other minerals.
The second intervention of the Iap arrives in May 2013 (number 037/2013). The reason is the wording used in the commercials to present water as a product capable of alleviating ailments related to osteoporosis and urinary stones. The message, which appeared in various newspapers such as Corriere della sera, la Repubblica and La Sicilia, was misleading because it incorrectly attributed “properties in the prevention and treatment of diseases (e.g. osteoporosis, urinary stones)”. Even the reference in the message to the Italian Federation of Family Doctors (FIMMG) was arbitrary because it is a trade union association which “gives advertising promises the scrutiny of scientific feedback, inducing the public to rely on the curative qualities of the products they don’t own.” Also under accusation is the slogan “waters of health” considered misleading because it suggests that Uliveto and Rocchetta are products “specifically useful for the prevention and treatment of diseases”. According to the sentence, these are health indications that “have not found explicit ministerial authorization and are therefore also improper from this point of view”.
The complaints and sentences for Uliveto continue in December 2013 (PS 8805, provision 24608 of 2013) with a ruling by the Antitrust which, with regard to the claim, thus stated “also the claim – waters of health -, used in the entire advertising campaign, and the emphasis attributed to it by the red ribbon, which joins the packs of Uliveto and Rocchetta waters in the messages in the press, constitute communicational elements that take on a specific and further meaning, and that is, they credit the waters with specific curative or preventive effects of a general nature which, in reality, they do not possess”. The sentence concludes with the censorship of the message and a fine of 100,000 euros.
The problem reappeared in January 2015 (the sentence was proclaimed in December 2014 but published in 2015) when the advertising of Uliveto e Rocchetta was again censored because in the messages the minerals were classified as “waters of health“, combining false health claims and using as a testimonial of medical associations. “On the merits, the advertising communication in question is incorrect because, similarly to the claims examined in the preliminary investigation (PS 9629 provision 25250) particularly insists on the association between the consumption of these waters and the concept of health, first of all with regard, for example, to the following claims “health waters”, “Uliveto è con i gastroenterologi dell’AIGO for digestive health” and “Rocchetta è with the urologists of the CLU for urological health” and then to the combination of these waters with the “gastroenterologists of the AIGO” and “the urologists of the CLU” and the related logos. Even the claim “waters of health“, in the context of the messages in question, takes on a specific and further meaning, accrediting the waters with curative and preventive effects of a general nature that they do not actually possess.” However, the fine of 5,000 euros is doubled to 10,000 in the case of a repeat offender, who at the end of 2013 had already suffered censure from the Antitrust combined with a fine of 100,000 euros for similar reasons.
The last two sentences for incorrect advertising are signed by the Iap. The first (number 14/2019) differs from the others because it concerns the presence of hidden advertising of Rocchetta water within a service on the television network La 7 in the program “Beautiful inside and beautiful outside”. The second sunderstand 21/22also from the (Iap) dated 11 July 2022, believes that the elements present in the message that appeared in the magazine D – la Repubblica delle Donne of 7 May 2022 are unproven. The advertising of Rocchetta mineral water is incorrect because it could “lead the consumer public to believe that it has some superior characteristics compared to other mineral waters and is able to perform a specific cellular protection action from free radicals“. The sentence said: “your best friend”; “Rocchetta, Acqua della salute, helps to preserve the hydration of the skin” and on the basis of a recent scientific study “hydration with Rocchetta water helps to protect the cells of the epidermis from free radicals (the main causes of ageing) … favoring the maintenance of the cellular vitality of our skin”. All with a broad endorsement by the Italian Society of Dermatology, whose logo is shown and states: “together for skin health“.
As in the past, Il Fatto Alimentare has forwarded a request for censorship for the new messages from Uliveto and Rocchetta to the Iap and the Agcm. The bitter observation is the lack of incisiveness of two important institutions such as the Iap and the Agcm which see the sentences not respected. This is a serious aspect that damages the image of two authoritative references which, among other things, are the only ones in Italy to deal with misleading advertising.
(Roberto la Pira in Il Fatto Alimentare of 03/27/2023)
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