58 illegal TV advertisements put under spotlight

By Hu Yongqi (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-09-23 13:47

Fifty-eight TV direct sales advertisements broadcast on 28 local television channels were found to have violated laws and regulations after a monitoring investigation by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the China Advertising Association said at a press conference Tuesday.

Yang Hongsheng, vice chairman of the advertising association said Tuesday that all the illicit TV advertisements exaggerated the quality and effects of their products. This was the fifth public condemnation of illegal TV advertisements so far, Yang said.

Most of the TV advertisements in question claimed that their products help people lose weight, dispel scars and cure illness, and 17 advertisements were found to have seriously violated China’s advertising laws and their makers will be severely punished by the SAIC.

Consumers should also be more alert before calling numbers on the TV screen, Yang said.