• by Les Luchter , September 30, 2021

Cosamin, a joint health supplement, has launched three :30 spots over numerous paid and free online video, OTT and CTV services. These include Discovery Go, NBCUniversal, Hulu, Vudu, Tubi, Pluto, Newsy and Cheddar.

The spots, from Charlotte-based creative and performance marketing agency Union, focus on three people: a woman playing on the floor with her granddaughter; a man building a vehicle for his son; and another man who feels as if he’s peddling a bike with a heavy load.

Each spot includes an animated overlay showing how joint discomfort could prevent such activities, with a voiceover stating that Cosamin is “proven at the cellular level to block certain enzymes that break down cartilage.”

Each ad ends with the line, “This is what joint comfort looks like.”

Other elements of the campaign include static image and animated banners, static posts, and Facebook ads.

Cosamin’s last national campaign in 2017, also from Union, included neither OTT nor broadcast. The brand did run a 2014 national TV/cinema/digital campaign from Ron Foth Advertising (Columbus, Ohio) featuring one-armed surfer Bethany Hamilton, later the subject of the biopic “Soul Surfer.

Cosamin, a 29-year-old product from Nutramax Laboratories, contains glucosamine and chondroitin. Competitors include Schiff’s Move Free, Bountiful’s Osteo Bi-Flex and Premier Nutrition’s Joint Juice.

Like other products in the lightly regulated nutritional supplements industry, the glucosamine/chondroitin category hasn’t been shy of naysayers and even controversies over the years.

“Evidence for these [glucosamine/chondroitin] supplements—among the best-selling in the U.S.—is mixed,” noted Consumer Reportsin 2019. “Some research suggests they may help when used for less than six months, but other research found that they failed to relieve pain or prevent cartilage loss more than a placebo when used for up to four years.”

Just last month, Reckitt Benckiser, which owns and distributes Schiff’s Move Free, reached a $50 million settlement in a class action lawsuit that alleged the brand had been falsely advertised as being able to treat osteoarthritis. According to the settlement, Reckitt Benckiser “asserts that its labeling and marketing is truthful and supported by science but has settled this case to avoid further litigation and distraction of resources from its business.”

HBW Insight’s Informa Pharma Intelligence said the case’s plaintiffs had identified 4.7 million potential claimants by subpoenaing customer contact info from Costco, Walmart, Walgreen, Rite Aid, CVS, BJ’s and Amazon; via an online ad campaign involving banners on websites and social media platforms, and via a Google AdWords search campaign.bidi;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}