Advertising Headache

McNeil Consumer Products Co., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, has substantiated claims for Motrin IB, the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau said Wednesday. But the NAD said McNeil’s claim that “not even Advil works better than Motrin IB” raises serious issues. NAD, an advertising watchdog organization, said 24% of the surveyed consumers erroneously interpreted the claim to mean that Motrin is superior to Advil. The survey was conducted by American Home Products, the maker of Advil, which challenged the ad. “This raises serious questions with respect to the conventional treatment of parity claims by the courts, state and federal regulators,” NAD said, adding it “does not believe this particular case provides a forum for larger issues.”