The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has asked Johnson & Johnson to stop advertising a moisturizing product in children's TV shows.
While the company took issue with CARU's decision, it also appears willing to abide by it.
The ad, for Clean & Clear Day Soft Oil-Free Moisturizer, aired in an episode of H20: Just Add Water. And while the show name sounds like it fits the product, the demo doesn't, according to CARU.
That's because the product's label reads "Keep Out Of Reach Of Children," while over half of H20's audience is aged 2-11, Johnson & JOhnson concedes. Johnson & Johnson said that the label was mandated by the FDA because it had SPF 15 sun block in it, and that the commercial was aimed at the older children and young adults in the audience.
CARU pointed out that its guidelines “explicitly and unambiguously provide that advertisers should not advertise products directly to children that are labeled, 'keep out of the reach of children,' and recommended the advertiser discontinue such advertising."
Johnson & Johnson disagreed but said that the ad had stopped running and that it had no plans to place the ad in the same shows in the future.
