Industry

Is free product allowed to be offered for the purchase of the same product?

Yes, effective 1st October 2022, free product giveaways are allowed for the advertisements of supplement product only. However, offer of free products are not allowed for advertisements of traditional products, non-prescription products (over the counter medicine, OTC) or poison products. Please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 8.4 Free Product.

Are gift offers with the purchase of health products allowed in advertisement? What kind of free gifts are permissible?

Yes, please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 8.3 Gifts. However, any expensive gift offer that encourages the public to purchase the product, not out of genuine need, is not allowed. Please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 8.2 Encouragement of unnecessary purchase or indiscriminate use. Examples of free gifts allowed are pen, cup, soft toys and so on. 

Can leadership claim (ex: No. 1) of a product be made in an advertisement?

No, the use of leadership claim of a product is prohibited. Surveys relying on unvalidated data, due to a lack of recognition by authorities, may deem the claims unjustifiable. Furthermore, making a leadership claim of a product in another way tends to disparage and discredit competitor’s product directly or by implication. Please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 3.9 Denigration, Refution And Disparagement Towards Other Parties and Appendix 7 No. 19 (List of Superlatives/Hyperboles).

Can comparison to “Brand X” product be made in an advertisement?

Please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 4.8 Comparative Advertising. Comparison of a registered health product with “Brand X” product is not possible because “Brand X” product is not a product registered with DCA and unidentifiable. Hence, comparison with a product that does not exist is a false claim. 

Is comparative advertising allowed in an advertisement?

Please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 4.8 Comparative Advertising. Comparative advertising is allowed in the context where it is compared with their own products from the same company.

Is statement from healthcare professional allowed in product advertisements?

Healthcare professionals may participate in NCE press release advertisement to explain about a disease, statistics on diseases etc. However, healthcare professionals are not allowed, whether directly or indirectly, to promote, suggest, endorse or encourage the use of the NCE being published. Please refer to Registered Medicinal Product Advertising Approval Guidelines Paragraph 4.3 Impressions of Health Care Professional Advice or Endorsement. 
 

Is creativity allowed in advertisements?

Creativity in healthcare advertisement is allowed provided that the creativity does not mislead the public, aligned with indication approved by DCA and in compliance with the guidelines and policies made by MAB. This is the decision made in the MAB Meeting No.3/2021 on December 2021. Please refer to Registered Medicinal Products Advertising Approval Guidelines:

Paragraph 3.3 Creativity, subsection 3.3.1- Creativity in product advertising must align with the advertising principles outlined in these guidelines.

Perenggan 3.3 Creativity, subsection 3.3.2- Creativity elements in advertising should not ignore consumers safety. As medicinal products affect consumers health, the information conveyed through the advertisement must be clear, accurate and not confusing or obscured by excessive creativity elements.

Perenggan 3.3 Creativity, subsection 3.3.3- The element of creativity in advertising cannot ignore the standards of morality and decency practiced in Malaysia.

In addition, in MAB meeting No.1/2020 held on 8 July 2020, the members of MAB reiterated that healthcare advertisement which involve patients is incomparable to others non-regulated product advertisement such as detergent.
 

Is the use of animal/ non-human characters allowed in advertisements?

All characters in the product packaging are allowed to be used in the advertisement as their intended purposes. 
Please refer to the Registered Medicinal Products Advertising Approval Guidelines:

Paragraph 3.2 General Principles, subsection 3.2.2 – Advertisements must contain information that is reliable, accurate, true, informative, fair, objective, unambiguous, balanced, up-to-date, verifiable, and non-offensive.  
 
Paragraph 3.5 Animal Image in Advertisement - Animal images in advertisements should be used with caution to ensure that consumers are not misled into believing that the advertised product is intended for veterinary use.

Is company allowed to request amendment for advertisement that is not approved by MAB?

Company is allowed to apply for amendment to the advertisement approved by Medicine Advertisements Board within two (2) months from the date of approval. Company may submit the application by fill in the Borang Permohonan Pindaan Kelulusan Format Iklan (K-FR-27 form) including required documents with justifications. Please refer to Paragraph 2.15 Registered Medicinal Products Advertising Approval Guideline. Company will have to submit a new application if the specified period is exceeded. 

How is the advertisement approval process carried out in Pharmaceutical Services Program?

According to R4(1) MABR 1976, the Board have the power to regulate its own procedure in approving advertisement. Before the year 2012, all application of approval was being processed and approved in MAB meeting. In year 2004, Fast Track Service had been introduced and the advertisement application processing time is 7 working days. It was then reduced to 5 working days in year 2010. Since 2012, mandate has been given to Secretariat MAB to facilitate the processing and approval of advertisement based on guidelines and policies set by MAB to fulfil the client charter.

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