Breakthrough Decision on Food Supplement Ad

In 2012, the Radio and TV Broadcasting Council fined Allivictus CZK 1.8 million for an alleged breach of the Advertising Act. The Council believed that Allivictus misled consumers by running an ad that gave the impression that its food supplement had medicinal effects. KŠB represented Allivictus in the administrative proceedings and then in court proceedings before the Municipal Court and, subsequently, the Supreme Administrative Court, which agreed with KŠB’s reasoning, dismissed the decision on the fine, and returned the matter to the Council.  The Supreme Administrative Court agreed with Allivictus, which claimed that the ad clearly labelled the product as a garlic extract, that it merely presented all the generally available characteristics of garlic, and that the average consumer would hardly consider the drops to be a substitute for, a part of, or a supplement to a treatment and were thus not misled. The Supreme Administrative Court believed that the positive qualities of garlic as advertised are generally attributed to garlic and are thus generally known. The Supreme Administrative Court added that it does not see anything misleading or improper if the ad takes the form of a story of a man who survived a serious illness and talks about his own subjective experience.