Group recommends Wrigley not overstate gum's benefits

Source: Chicago Tribune – 11.24.09

An advertising self-regulatory group announced Thursday it has upheld a decision challenging advertising claims made by Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for its Eclipse gum.

In 2008, Wrigley launched a new version of Eclipse touting the gum's ability to kill germs that cause bad breath, courtesy of a new ingredient called magnolia bark extract. But Wrigley's main U.S. gum rival, Cadbury Adams USA, complained about Wrigley's assertions to the Council of Better Business Bureaus' National Advertising Division.

In April, the ad review body ruled that claims of Eclipse's germ-killing prowess were not fully backed by scientific evidence. Wrigley in turn said it was confident of scientific support for its claim, and lodged an appeal to the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Review Board.

Thursday, the review board essentially concurred with the decision of the National Advertising Division, recommending that Wrigley "avoid stating or implying that it has been scientifically proven" that magnolia bark extract in Eclipse kills or helps kill germs that cause bad breath.

The review board agreed, though, with the original decision last spring that Wrigley can advertise that there's "emerging evidence" of magnolia bark extract's ability to kill germs that cause bad breath.

"Wrigley agreed to take the panel's recommendations into consideration in future advertising," the ad review board said.

Wrigley couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

The Better Business Bureau's advertising regulatory group has no enforcement powers, but it can alert federal trade regulators to spurious claims. Once an appeal is denied, advertisers don't often continue making claims.