As mentioned above, in terms of operation, compliance is one, and performance is zero. In the environment of increasing compliance requirements, business is not compliant, and all performance is temporary. Product, channel and brand are the three key factors for the development of the consumer goods industry. Cosmetics belong to fast moving consumer goods, the product life cycle is shorter, the product replacement is faster, the importance of brand promotion and product publicity is particularly important. In the cosmetics business, the vast majority of cosmetics operators pay special attention to product publicity and brand promotion. Cosmetic publicity compliance is an important part of cosmetic enterprise business compliance. Product propaganda is not compliant, on the one hand harm the interests of consumers, destroy the healthy economic order; On the other hand, it also brings great business risks and economic losses to the enterprise. In the current era of social marketing, the compliance challenge of product promotion is particularly prominent. This article will discuss the cosmetic publicity compliance issues for the reference of operators.

Medical terms are prohibited in product advertising

Cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are two different things. To avoid the confusion of the concept of cosmetics and drugs is the general consensus of the cosmetic regulatory authorities in the world. Most countries in the world do not have the concept of "cosmeceuticals" at the regulatory level. In the category of drugs or pharmaceutical accessories in some countries, some products also have the purpose of cosmetic use, but such products must first meet the regulatory requirements of drugs or pharmaceutical accessories, and there is no "cosmeceuticals" that are managed solely in accordance with cosmetics, such as Japan. In China's cosmetics market, there is no concept of "cosmeceuticals". According to the Regulations on Cosmetic Hygiene Supervision, cosmetic labels, small packages or instructions shall not contain indications, shall not advertise curative effects, shall not use medical terms, and shall not advertise medical effects in advertising. The Advertising Law also stipulates that, except for advertisements for medical treatment, drugs and medical devices, any other advertisements are prohibited from involving the function of disease treatment, and shall not use medical terms or terms that are easy to confuse the marketed goods with drugs and medical devices. Therefore, the promotion of cosmetics shall not involve the treatment of diseases, and shall not use medical terms or terms that are easy to be confused with drugs and medical devices. The above value orientation is in line with the definition of cosmetics in China. The Cosmetic Hygiene Regulation defines cosmetics as: "Cosmetics are daily chemical industrial products that are applied, sprayed or otherwise dispersed on any part of the surface of the human body, such as skin, hair, nails, lips, etc., to achieve the purpose of cleaning, eliminating undesirable odors, skin care, beauty and modification." The analysis of the above concept of cosmetics shows that cosmetics in our country are not aimed at medical efficacy, nor can they be advertised as having medical efficacy. In response to the recent status quo of cosmeceuticals, the State Food and Drug Administration further clarified the problem in the form of the "Cosmetics Supervision FAQ (1)" on January 1, 2019: For products registered or filed in the name of cosmetics, declaring the concept of "cosmeceuticals" such as "cosmeceuticals" and "medical skin care products" is illegal. Therefore, cosmetic operators in the product promotion, shall not use antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hemostatic, anti-sensitivity and other terms to promote medical efficacy. In the practice of cosmetics business, some cosmetics brands will indirectly promote the concept of cosmetics cosmeceuticals through the publicity of their medicinal ingredients, but this does not mean that cosmetics can use medical terms. On the other hand, cosmetics may use ingredients with the same origin as drugs or Chinese herbal raw materials, but it does not mean that cosmetics have specific medical effects.

Product promotion content should be legal

Product promotion is dancing in chains. In order to highlight the publicity effect, the advertiser can carry out unique advertising creativity, but the product promotion content should be legal and should not violate the prohibitions of the advertising law. China's Advertising Law stipulates that an advertisement may not be in the following circumstances: (1) the use or disguised use of the national flag, national anthem, national emblem, military flag, military song or military emblem of the People's Republic of China; (2) The use or disguised use of the name or image of a state organ or its staff; (3) Use terms such as "national level", "highest level" and "best"; (4) harm the dignity or interests of the state, divulge state secrets; (5) impeding social stability and harming social public interests; (6) endangering personal and property safety, revealing personal privacy; (7) impeding social public order or violating social good manners; (8) Content containing obscenity, pornography, gambling, superstition, terror, violence; (9) Content that contains ethnic, racial, religious, and gender discrimination; (10) impeding the protection of the environment, natural resources or cultural heritage; (11) Other circumstances prohibited by laws and administrative regulations. As far as the cosmetics industry is concerned, the use of absolute terms such as "national", "highest" and "best" in cosmetics publicity is a more prominent problem. Some cosmetic operators in the product promotion will use the expression of the highest, unique, comprehensive and other extreme meaning of the claim content, such as the national only, no addition, absolutely safe, 100% effective, 100% natural, thoroughly solve the skin dark yellow words, the above product promotion are non-compliant behavior. It should be pointed out that in addition to meeting the requirements of the above-mentioned prohibitive circumstances, the legality of product publicity also includes not harming the physical and mental health of minors and disabled persons, not demeaning the goods or services of other producers and operators, and not infringing on the copyright of others, which is a very broad concept.

Product promotion content should be true

In addition to being legal, advertising content must be true. China's advertising law stipulates that advertisements shall not contain false or misleading content, and shall not deceive or mislead consumers. The advertiser shall be responsible for the truth of the content of the advertisement. Truth is the life of advertising. Cosmetics operators should pay attention to the authenticity of the publicity content in the product publicity. As far as the publicity of cosmetic products is concerned, the performance, function, origin, use, quality, ingredients, price, producer, expiration date, promise, etc. of the commodity or the content, provider, form, quality, price, promise, etc. of the service should be accurate, clear and clear; Where it is indicated that the goods or services to be marketed are accompanied by a gift, the type, specification, quantity, term and method of the goods or services to be accompanied by a gift shall be clearly stated. The contents of false advertisements are often exaggerated and inaccurate, and the meaning is vague and misleading.

The act of false advertisement is also manifested in two forms in law: act and omission. Act refers to the deliberate publication of false advertisement. Inaction is the obligation of the advertiser to explain or warn, but not to act. In particular, it should be pointed out that the content of product promotion and use of data, statistics, survey results, abstracts, quotations, etc., should not only be true and accurate, but also indicate the source; Where the content of the citation has scope of application and validity period, it shall be clearly stated. For example, after the end of the promotion activities of a cosmetics company in 2018, its brand hit the promotional page of "the first sales of men's facial cleansing products in the whole network", "the first sales of men's whole network", and "the first sales of men's skin care in the whole network in 2018" in the official flagship store of Tmall. After an investigation by the local industry and Commerce Department, it was found that the data of the above advertisement actually came from a software service purchased online by the party for statistical product online sales, but the party did not indicate the source when using it. Later, he was ordered to stop publishing the advertisement and was fined 80,000 yuan. In addition to bearing administrative responsibilities such as fines, false product publicity will also involve civil liabilities such as double compensation, and cosmetics operators should pay attention to it.