Advertising watchdog clamps down, again, on CBD firm’s claims
Advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has censured Liverpool-based Supreme CBD, again, for its promotional material.
It said a post on professional fighter, Anthony Fowler’s, X page, seen on 21 July 2024 for Supreme CBD promoted a discount code for CBD products and said, “A lot of people message me saying ‘I want to try CBD, I don’t know where to start, I’m quite scared to spend money in case it doesn’t work.’ […] It will work, for everyone, because we all have the same system called [sic] endocannabinoid system which works with cannabinoids, like CBD. It’s the reason we’re so popular. Most […] supplements, you take it, you don’t feel any different. With CBD after, like, a few days, you feel a big difference. Then you really, really get the benefits.”
CBD – Cannabidiol – is a naturally occurring chemical found in the Cannabis sativa plant. It is not psychoactive and is often contained in various products and is shown to have multiple uses, like adding it to coffee, mixing it into skincare, or selling it on its own.
Fowler was censured by the ASA in February this year, along with former footballers John Hartson and Matt Le Tissier, over ads which claimed Supreme’s CBD products could prevent, treat, or cure disease, which is a breach of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) code.
The complainant in this most recent case challenged whether the ad made implied general health claims that were in breach of the Code.
Fowler, the director and owner of Supreme CBD, stated that he did not believe he made any medical claims with regards to CBD. He stated that the posts were on his personal account, and were his opinions alone, and not backed by any medical claim or research. Supreme CBD provided three studies regarding the potential health benefits of CBD.
However, the complaint was upheld. The ASA noted that Anthony Fowler believed he was simply providing his personal opinion on his personal social media account. However, Anthony Fowler was the owner of Supreme CBD and the post’s content related to Supreme CBD. The post was, therefore, an ad for Supreme CBD, and any claims must comply with the CAP Code.
The ASA said: “We considered that consumers would understand the claims ‘It will work, for everyone, because we all have the same system called [sic] endocannabinoid system which works with cannabinoids, like CBD’ and ‘Most […] supplements, you take it, you don’t feel any different. With CBD after, like, a few days, you feel a big difference. Then you really, really get the benefits’ to imply that the CBD in the product would be generally beneficial to health and wellbeing.
“The claims must, therefore, be accompanied by a specific authorised health claim for CBD. However, the ad did not include any authorised claims. Furthermore, we noted there were no authorised health claims for CBD on the GB Register. We concluded that the claims breached the Code.”
The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again in the form complained of, adding: “We told Supreme CBD Ltd and Anthony Fowler not to make any general or specific health claims about CBD, until such time as a health claim was authorised on the GB Register in relation to CBD.”
