PRESS RELEASE

CONCEALED ADVERTISING: ANTITRUST IMPOSES PENALTY ON MONDADORI, UNIFARM AND PHILIPS FOR IMAGES OF POWDERED AND BOTTLED MILK

The proceedings initiated in the light of a report on maternity of Belén Rodríguez published by the weekly 'Chi'.

The Competition Authority, at a meeting on 29 January, decided to impose sanctions on the companies Mondadori, Unifarm and Philips for a concealed advertisement in a feature on the new baby of Belén Rodríguez published by the weekly 'Chi'. The fines amounted to 70,000 euros each for Mondadori and Unifarm and 50,000 euros for Philips.

In particular, issue no. 17 published on 24 April, 2013, entitled "Belen with her Santiago" reported, enlarged, framed in red and isolated from the context, the images of a baby milk, Neolatte1, and a bottle of Avent. The captions accompanying the photos specified prices and properties of the two products: in particular, the artificial milk was referred to as "a type of powdered milk for infants with natural Bifidus, which promotes good and healthy digestion" while the bottle "in PES (Polyethersulfone) for babies, reduces air in the belly to avoid colic and irritability".

Neolatte1 milk is produced by a German company but distributed to chemists by Unifarm, a pharmaceutical company operating in the field of intermediate distribution of medicine. The Dutch company Philips also manufactures products for mothers and children, including the Philips Avent baby bottle.

According to the Antitrust, despite the absence of direct evidence of an agreement, it was possible to infer the nature of the advertising message from multiple precise and coherent evidence such as: the location of the photo (enlarged, framed in red and out of context with respect to the narrative and photographic context of the article), product information (features and prices), the difference between the draught article (which did not contain specific references to products identified and their characteristics) and the one published afterwards. These are elements clearly different to those found in news reports on the lives of public figures, the so-called light information.

The pagination also lacked any precaution or indication that would make clear to consumers the promotional nature of the images.

Rome, 24 February 2014