The advertising watchdog has banned a TV ad for Nurofen for misleading viewers with claims it has special painkilling prowess, in a landmark ruling likely to spark a crackdown in the way companies are allowed to market general painkillers.



The ruling by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority follows a separate action by Australia’s Federal Court which fined Reckitt Benckiser, the manufacturer of Nurofen, A$1.7m (£940,000) for misleading customers by claiming its products targeted specific pains, such as migraines.



The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had asked for a hefty A$6m fine.



Reckitt Benckiser had already been warned about its ad claims in the UK when it was forced to quietly remove a TV ad, for Nurofen Express, earlier this year after the ASA informally resolved complaints that it was misleading without launching a public investigation.



However, the UK drug company has not managed to abide by its agreement not to run ads that could imply its products have a “special mechanism” that targets specific types of pain.



The ASA received 18 complaints about an ad for Nurofen showing a woman who fixed her back pain by taking its Nurofen Joint and Back product.



The complainants argued that it was misleading to imply it could specifically target back pain.



“Viewers were likely to infer that the product had a special mechanism or contained an active ingredient which made it especially effective for back and joint pain in comparison to other painkillers,” said the ASA. “We understood the product was absorbed by the stomach and distributed to sources of pain wherever they may be located around the body via the bloodstream, and that there was no mechanism by which the product actively sought out the source of pain in a user’s back or joints.”

The ASA banned the ad in a landmark ruling that is likely to set a precedent that will see a crackdown on the large number of pharmaceutical products in the market that are advertised as being able to target specific pain ailments, when in fact they are just general painkillers.