The two organizations will be running ads in four dietary supplement trade magazines - Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, Natural Products Insider, Nutraceuticals World and Nutritional Outlook - with the phase "there's a new sheriff in town: you", tagged with "we're aiming to clean up our industry."
The initiative comes as part of an overall industry move towards increased self-regulation in order for credible science-backed manufacturers and marketers to distance themselves from the negative reputation of delinquent products and advertising.
CRN and NAD are recommending dietary supplement companies bring companies making blatantly false claims to NAD's attention.
"We're trying to encourage companies to participate in the program," Judy Blatman, CRN vice president of communications, told NutraIngredients-USA. "We hope the industry will realize not only how important regulation is, but how important self-regulation is."
The joint campaign forms part of a marketing initiative being conducted by both CRN and NAD, which includes conference presentations, distribution of flyers explaining the program on Capitol Hill, as well as communication with mainstream publications and advertising agencies asking them to be more selective in the types of advertising they run.
The initiative has come about through a CRN funding initiative that NAD highlighted as being innovative across other industries.
"CRN has provided NAD with a series of grants that allow NAD to expand its existing review of dietary-supplement advertising," NAD director Andrea Levine told NutraIngredients-USA. "The CRN grants are the first of their kind."
According to CRN, this program is a natural step for the industry to take as it finds the right balance between a necessary amount of regulation and the ability to clean up its own act.
"As an industry we're maturing and you need consumers to thrive," said Blatman. "A self-regulatory program such as this is one way to say to consumers 'we take health claim advertising seriously'."
Although the current ads will appear only in trade publications, Blatman is confident the campaign will have a trickle down effect and reach consumers.
"This advertising campaign is geared at industry, but the overall program with NAD will affect consumer confidence in dietary supplement advertising," said Blatman.
By working with it, NAD says dietary supplement companies can avoid the costly and punitive process of FTC regulatory measures.
"Generally, advertisers abide by NAD's recommendations and modify their advertising accordingly," said Levine.
However, another regulatory issue is the fact FTC simply can't afford to fully policy dietary supplement advertising infringers.
"The FTC -- which has limited personnel and resources -- is a strong supporter of advertising self-regulation," said Levine.
In January FTC fined marketers of four weight-loss pills $25m for false advertising claims. The agency acknowledged in its announcement that some marketers in the case had been referred to it by NAD.
"The FTC strongly supports effective self-regulation," said Lydia Parnes, director of FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a September 2006 written statement. "The Council for Responsible Nutrition is taking a positive step forward in partnering with the National Advertising Division to increase the self-regulatory review of dietary supplement advertising."
