Russia’s advertising watchdog has ruled that a condom ad claiming that almost half of the country’s population has been infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) is misleading.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) launched proceedings in June into British condom producer Reckitt Benckiser’s 2017 television spot advertising Durex condoms. The ad cites the Moscow health department guidelines on childbirth in claiming that “almost one in two Russians were infected with an STD.”
“This contradicts official Russian Health Ministry statistics,” FAS said in an online statement Tuesday, citing data that says only 0.1 percent of the population had been infected with an STD in 2017.
FAS said it plans to fine the condom maker for violating Russia’s advertising law.
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