Advertisment
The radio advertisement for the Beacon Clinic featuring a male voiceover referred to the following:
“Beacon Hospital, one health check, four hours. Total peace of mind. Beacon Health check is a fully comprehensive, consultant delivered health screening programme designed to identify and reduce health risks including heart disease, stroke and diabetes. This is modern medicine. This is Beacon Hospital. Book your Beacon Health Check today at beaconhospital.ie”
Complaint
The complainant said that while there was no implication that the health check would not find any disease/illness, he queried how the advertisers could offer “total peace of mind” to consumers. He considered that the only way anyone could have total peace of mind would be to know that there was nothing wrong with them.
Response
The advertisers said that the advertisement in question had been airing for over a year and they had never received feedback of the nature indicated in the complaint. They said that the premise behind their use of the ‘total peace of mind’ phrase was that anyone undergoing the health check would have total peace of mind in having one complete health screening at the one location.
They said that the message contained within their advertising had been more about the hospital’s ability to provide a full range of health checks at once, and for their patients to know that they were in the hands of Specialist Consultants. They said it had never been their intention to imply that the results in all cases would be positive and reiterated that this was the first time that they had received feedback of this nature.
Conclusion
Complaint not Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the details of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee noted that the advertisement did not state that the results following the medical check would have a positive outcome in all cases.
The Committee accepted that the ‘peace of mind’ phrase used in this case had been used to indicate the ease at which patients could have all their medical checks carried out at the one location. The Committee did not uphold the complaint.
