James Meikle, health correspondent
Tuesday October 14, 2004
The Guardian
The drugs company GlaxoSmithKline has withdrawn a specially-written Mr Men children's book promoting its anti-allergy products after government medicines regulators decided it infringed advertising rules.
The company has promised "minor adjustments" to the book and accompanying material aimed at parents to meet regulations before relaunching it next year. About 100,000 books have been produced over two years and the company says it has not received a single complaint from parents.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched an urgent investigation into the story of Mr Sneeze and his allergies, commissioned by GSK from Adam Hargreaves, son of Roger Hargreaves, creator of the Mr Men, after inquiries from the Guardian.
But the decision did little to allay concern over such marketing ploys at the Consumers' Association. It suggested companies could not be trusted to follow regulatory guidelines on advertising or their own codes of practice. The story, with pictures, tells how Mr Sneeze, who at first thinks he has a summer cold, eventually finds out he is allergic to feathers in his pillow.
It makes no mention of company products but is bound together with four pages of advice on allergies and two pages from GSK on the products Piriton and Piriteze.
These have dotted lines and little scissors alongside them. Instructions to parents to remove them were included in information packs accompanying the book, which is not offered for sale in shops, but made available at GSK roadshows and to Tesco Clubcard holders, as well as through the charity Allergy UK.
The company said last night it had not yet determined how the book and information would be marketed next year but it might involve sticking the advice and product information to the back of the book.
Mr Sneeze was approved by the Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB), the trade body for over-the-counter medicines, to which monitoring of advertising is delegated.
But the MHRA has now told the Guardian: "The medicines (advertising) regulations 1994 strictly prohibit any advertisement for a medicine which is directed exclusively or primarily at children. The agency took the view that the book could not include as integral parts both literature aimed at children and material promoting medicinal products."
The company had "promptly agreed" to withdraw the book and not reissue it in its present form. "The Mr Sneeze story book will continue but the material for parents will be attached as a separate item."
GSK said last night that it was "pleased to note ... that the MHRA are happy for us to continue to utilise the publication given minor adjustments to the location of the information leaflet within the publication".
Wendy Garlick, senior policy adviser at the Consumers' Association, said: "The action taken by the MHRA appears to be cosmetic as the information will still find its target audience. In effect, children are being used as a vehicle for the promotional activity of GSK."
A review of how the MHRA policed advertising was urgently needed, she said.
Muriel Simmonds, chair of Allergy UK, which endorsed the information on allergy as a means of communicating the problems to children, said it advised parents or healthcare officials to remove the advertising material before giving the book to children. When issuing the book direct to the public, it had removed the material.
"We find it very disturbing that having been assured by the company concerned, and their public relations company, that all necessary regulatory bodies had approved the books, the company have now withdrawn them, but have failed to notify us of the fact."
Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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