• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 22, 2013

The National Advertising Division, a unit of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, has asked the Federal Trade Commission to explore nearly two dozen questionable advertising claims by nail polish marketer Fiore Rx.

The NAD said it referred the matter to the FTC after Fiore did not respond to its requests for information regarding the claims made in the company’s ads.

Specifically, the NAD asked the FTC to look at company claims for Fiore's “antifungal nail lacquer” line of products. Among the questionable claims, the NAD said, was Fiore’s assertion that the product line “provides a safe and less-expensive alternative to complicated nail infection treatments.”

The NAD also questioned the claim that the product line “has become the preferred antifungal nail polish for men and women who want antifungal nail protection as well as style and beauty.”

The NAD investigates ad claims by marketers that are brought to its attention by competitors. Earlier this year, for example, acting on a complaint from the Dial Corp., it ruled that a campaign for Unilever’s Deep Moisture Body Wash did not prove claims that competitors, including Dial, are “significantly more damaging to the skin than Dove Deep Moisture.” Unilever said it was appealing the decision to the National Advertising Review Board -- which, like NAD, is also part of the ASRC.

The Fiore investigation, however, was what the NAD calls a “monitoring” case, said a rep for the organization. “So-called because we monitor advertising across all media, in addition to accepting challenges from competing advertisers.”  

It was unclear whether the FTC would launch its own review of the situation. “The FTC doesn’t confirm or deny the existence of investigations,” an agency rep replied in an email when asked about the matter. It frequently announces when it settles a case, however. 

Executives at Fiore, which is based in Lawrenceville, Ga., did not return a call seeking comment on the NAD's move.