First Day Life Permanently Discontinues Certain Advertising Claims for Daily Enrichment Multivitamin Following National Advertising Division Challenge

NEW YORK, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- First Day Life, Inc. informed the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs that it has permanently discontinued all of the advertising claims and testimonials for the company's Daily Enrichment Multivitamin that were challenged by the Council of Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

The claims, which appeared in digital advertising, included:

• "Millions of kids in the US are hyperactive. They're distracted & impulsive. But there's a secret cause that has just been discovered: Nutritional Deficiencies. Even when we think our kids are eating well, they might not be getting critical vitamins. In fact, 93% of kids aren't eating enough fruits and veggies every day. That creates chemical imbalances that affect their behavior. That's where First Day Kids Enrichment comes in to improve their behavioral development";
• "Hey Mom, give yourself a tantrum free day this Mother's Day! Our vitamins help little one's stay focused and improves behavioral issues";
• "My six-year-old has done a complete 180 on his behavior. He says his brain doesn't feel like its buzzing anymore. It's true . . . Nutritional deficiencies create a chemical imbalance that affects children's behavior";
• "First Day Kids Enrichment contains certain vitamins, which may help support children's ability to focus";
• "Start the 30-day kid's vitamin challenge. Better Nutrition may help with Picky Eaters, Irritable, Easily Distracted" with three arrows pointing from each of these terms to a happy child and "first day-45 Day Satisfaction Guarantee" immediately underneath"; and
• "Start the 30-day kids vitamin challenge. Better Nutrition may help with Lack of Focus, Irritable, Easily Distracted" with three arrows pointing from each of these terms to a happy child and "first day-45 Day Satisfaction Guarantee" immediately underneath.

CRN also challenged several consumer testimonials relaying parents' experiences with the vitamins and describing how the product stopped their children's tantrums and hyperactivity.

First Day Life informed NAD that it has permanently discontinued all the challenged claims and testimonials. During the inquiry, NAD alerted the advertiser to a Facebook sponsored post that featured a picture of the product with the claim "End Mealtime Battles," which raised the same concerns as certain claims featured in the Facebook sponsored posts challenged by CRN.

NAD determined that the Facebook sponsored post reasonably conveyed the message that children who take First Day's Kids Daily Essentials will no longer experience tantrums, be hyperactive or lack focus and that the post raises the same concerns as the now permanently discontinued sponsored posts which promised results within a specific timeframe (i.e., 30 days). Because the advertiser did not conduct any testing on the product itself, NAD determined that it does not possess support for such claims.

Although the advertiser permanently discontinued all of the challenged claims, in light of similar claims in the marketplace that conveyed similar messages to the challenged claims, NAD cautioned the advertiser to be mindful that health claims must be supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence and provided guidance to First Day Life on the type of support needed for product performance and qualified health claims.

NAD noted, however, that nothing in its decision prevents the advertiser from touting that its product is designed to fill nutritional gaps in an easy-to-consume form that is palatable to children, provided that it does not link consumption of those ingredients to consumer or clinically meaningful improvements in behavior and cognitive performance.

In its advertiser statement, First Day Life stated that it "respects the self-regulatory process and intends to comply with the NAD's recommendations." While the advertiser noted that it "respectfully disagrees" with NAD's findings regarding certain discontinued sponsored posts, First Day stated that it "appreciates NAD's efforts to improve the industry" and "the opportunity to engage in this proceeding."

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About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs is where businesses turn to enhance consumer trust and consumers are heard. The non-profit organization creates a fairer playing field for businesses and a better experience for consumers through the development and delivery of effective third-party accountability and dispute resolution programs. Embracing its role as an independent organization since the restructuring of the Council of Better Business Bureaus in June 2019, BBB National Programs today oversees more than a dozen leading national industry self-regulation programs, and continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-directed marketing, and privacy.?To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.

About the National Advertising Division: The?National Advertising Division (NAD),?a division of BBB National Programs,?provides?independent self-regulation?and dispute resolution services,?guiding?the truthfulness of advertising across the U.S. NAD?reviews national advertising in all media and its decisions set consistent standards for?advertising?truth and accuracy, delivering meaningful protection to?consumers?and leveling the playing field for business.??? 

SOURCE BBB National Programs