Hi, After having viewed a product advertised on DStv via Glomail I have become somewhat incensed by the claims made about this particular product - namely Celltone - I made an entry on the forum at bad science.net and one of the members suggested that I post here, please find the original post that I made at bad science.net below:
Hello and please forgive me in advance for any foolishness on my part In South Africa we have a company called Glomail who sell all manner of wonderful merchandise via mail order and also have outlets at a number of retailers, now Iâm sure that most of what they sell is pretty harmless and good luck to them, but one of their products recently advertised on TV caught my eye - Celltone - http://www.glomail.co.za/products_celltone.asp the claim is that this particular product contains âsnail extract gelâ yuck I know⌠but the claims that they make for this particular product seem a little outlandish to say the least âYou will feel and enjoy smoother, more regenerated and younger looking skinâ âHelps diminish the appearance of stretch marks, scarring, spots and wrinklesâ etc. In any event I fired off an email to enquire as to whether they might be able to substantiate their claims with any kind of study; âDo you have any papers, scientific studies, reports to back up your claims with regards to your Celltone product?â to my utter amazement I got a reply - South African companies are not renowned for their communication skills in general - but the reply that I got was not very helpful and seemed to be dodging the issue: âYes we do have but unfortunately it is confidential it contains proprietary information.â grammar aside, surely if youâve done research youâd want to share that with everybody? Or if the results didnât quite add up, you wouldnât send it to market in the first place? :? In any case, I would really appreciate some advice as to the next step or any local contacts who may assist me in pursuing this matter, we do have the Advertising Standards Authority http://www.asasa.org.za/Complaint.aspx and I am busy lodging a complaint with them at present, I have not responded to the email as yet, as I donât think that Iâm going to get much further with that particular individual, but Iâm prepared to give it a go. Of course this entire topic could be complete bollocks and there is in fact well established evidence that snail gel is in fact a well known cure for all manner of ailments.
Cheers
Paul
Youâre right not to have any further exchanges with Glomail. Donât contact them again on this issue because they have given you their answer, as evasive and self-serving as it is. To try to elicit more information from them may jeopardise your case.
Lodge a consumer complaint with the ASASA. The core of your complaint should focus on misleading and unsubstantiated claims, as per the ASASA Code. Put together five or six separate phrases that they use in advertising the product and point out briefly why you think they are (potentially) misleading and/or unsubstantiated, e.g., no credible scientific evidence could be found that indicates âsnail gel extractâ to have beneficial effects on skin tone. The ASASA will insist that Glomail bring their evidence to light in order to assess its reliability. If Glomail refuses, the ASASA has the authority to pull the plug on their advertising, which is a major inconvenience for them since they source much of their stuff from foreign lands.
A very important part of your complaint is to specify which advertising (when flighted, on what medium) you are complaining about.
Thanks for your thoughtful and helpful advice Mefiante, I will certainly be following your advice as I am heading into uncharted territory here, unfortunately I have already lodged a complaint with ASASA and I fear that it may not be as well worded as per your advice, I donât know if there is any way of editing a complaint that has been lodged, but I will check with ASASA in this regard. On another note my wife thinks that I am a bit of a saddo for pursuing such things, her attitude is that if people want to waste R400 on tat like this then its up to them, I have a slightly different view which she doesnât understand and that is that we are potentially being mislead through a public medium and this must not be tolerated, and if no-one stands up we will be in a less than desirable position.
Paul
You neednât worry too much about your complaint. The ASASA is there to help you. It will forward your complaint to Glomail for comment. No doubt, Glomail will then respond by asking for specifics, and the ASASA will communicate this to you. At that point, you can follow my recommendations re details and content.
Personally, I think itâs good that some people (all too few in my view) are prepared to fight these fights against the onslaught of nonsense and exploitation such companies are keen on foisting on people. In the broader scheme of things, consumer complaints to the ASASA are often reported in the press, which may prompt others to look at such products a little more carefully and critically.
BTW, is the Glomail person who responded to your initial query someone called Tony Austin, Operations Director? If so, heâs a piece of evasive work, alright.
There was the story of a little girl who proudly tells her teacher that sheâs got snails as pets. Asked what she feeds them she answer Snail pellets.
Personally, I find snails very cute and will happily let them crawl all over me. Perhaps I should do an hour of that every day and see whether my skin tone improves.
A bit off topic, I have been struggling with brown (age)marks on my face and started treating it with some lovely stuff at a grand cost of R200 for around 40g by one of the more popular cosmetics brands. (IT CONTAINS VITAMIN C AND CALCIUM!!) Eight months later I eventually got around to a dermatologist who prescribed me a cream (to be concocted at the pharmacy, its not an âoff the shelfâ item), at the costly price of R22 for a bad-assed sized bottle with the exact same ingredients as the aforementioned product (minus the claim of vitamin C and Calcium).
J Dermatolog Treat. 2009;20(4):219-22.
The efficacy of Helix aspersa MĂźller extract in the healing of partial thickness burns: a novel treatment for open burn management protocols.
Tsoutsos D, Kakagia D, Tamparopoulos K.
Source
Plastic, Reconstructive Surgery, Microsurgery and Burns Unit, Athens General State Hospital G. Gennimatas, Athens, Greece.
Abstract
Snail extracts have been increasingly used in numerous dermatologic conditions and recent literature attributes healing, soothing and anti-aging properties to them. This study evaluates the efficacy of Helix aspersa extract in an open wound management protocol for deep partial thickness (PT) facial burns and compares it to moist exposure burn ointment(MEBO). A total of 27 adult patients with deep partial thickness facial burns (group A) were treated by application of a snail extract cream twice daily for a maximum period of 14 days or until full epithelialization. Times until debridement and epithelialization of the burn surface were compared with those of 16 patients (group B, control) treated by MEBO. Pain scores were recorded using a visual analogue scale (VAS) on the fourth post-burn day before and 30 min after application. Mean times for eschar detachment were 9 +/- 2 days (group A) and 11 +/- 2 days (group B) (p = 0.003) and for burn surface epithelialization were 11 +/- 2 days and 15 +/- 3 days respectively (p < 0.001). VAS pain scores after application in group A were significantly lower compared to group B (p < 0.001). Helix aspersa extract is a natural, safe and effective alternative treatment in open wound management of partial thickness burns in adults.
Well,snails are very cute, so keep some as pets and you may not need any expensive commercial stuff. Also, they form part of the diet of creatures as diverse as birds and firefly larvae, so whatever you do, please do not poison them in your garden.
In South Africa we have a company called Glomail who sell all manner of wonderful merchandise via mail order and also have outlets at a number of retailers, now Iâm sure that most of what they sell is pretty harmless and good luck to them, but one of their products recently advertised on TV caught my eye - Celltone - http://www.glomail.co.za/products_celltone.asp the claim is that this particular product contains âsnail extract gelâ yuck I know⌠but the claims that they make for this particular product seem a little outlandish to say the least âYou will feel and enjoy smoother, more regenerated and younger looking skinâ âHelps diminish the appearance of stretch marks, scarring, spots and wrinklesâ etc. In any event I fired off an email to enquire as to whether they might be able to substantiate their claims with any kind of study; âDo you have any papers, scientific studies, reports to back up your claims with regards to your Celltone product?â to my utter amazement I got a reply - South African companies are not renowned for their communication skills in general - but the reply that I got was not very helpful and seemed to be dodging the issue: âYes we do have but unfortunately it is confidential it contains proprietary information.â grammar aside, surely if youâve done research youâd want to share that with everybody? Or if the results didnât quite add up, you wouldnât send it to market in the first place? :? In any case, I would really appreciate some advice as to the next step or any local contacts who may assist me in pursuing this matter, we do have the Advertising Standards Authority http://www.asasa.org.za/Complaint.aspx and I am busy lodging a complaint with them at present, I have not responded to the email as yet, as I donât think that Iâm going to get much further with that particular individual, but Iâm prepared to give it a go. Of course this entire topic could be complete bollocks and there is in fact well established evidence that snail gel is in fact a well known cure for all manner of ailments.