AGCM

The Authority closed an investigation against Life 120 Italy S.r.l.s and Welcome Time Elevator S.r.l., as well as the broadcaster Teleuniverso S.r.l. and Mr Adriano Panzironi, ascertaining the repetition of two unfair trade practices that had already been prohibited and fined through decision no. 27325 of 13 September 2018 (PS 11051).

In particular, Life 120 Italia S.r.l.s. continued to broadcast, in the framework of the programme “Il CercaSalute”, aired between January and June 2019, two advertisements for the product Orac Spicel still mentioningthe unproven therapeutic effects of the substances contained in said supplement. Notably, it was suggested that the ingredients of the Orac Spice supplement possess real preventive and therapeutic effects. However, by definition, this product can only have the effect of optimising physiological functions that are already within the limits of normality. For repeating this practice, Life 120 Italia S.r.l.s. has been fined Euro 250,000.

Welcome Time Elevator S.r.l., Life 120 Italia S.r.l.s., Teleuniverso S.r.l. and Mr Adriano Panzironi also repeated disguised advertising practices, which had already been banned by the aforementioned decision of 13 September 2018. In fact, during the feature “Panzironi venga a pranzo da noi” (“Panzironi, come over for lunch”), as part of the episode aired on 5^th March 2019 by the broadcaster Teleuniverso, there is a seemingly casual conversation between Mr Panzironi and a member of the host family, during which the benefits of the "Life 120” supplement are praised, implicitly urging people to buy it, in a context that was not suitable to reveal that the communication was for advertising purposes. For repeating this practice, the above-mentioned companies and Mr Panzironi have been fined for a total of Euro 40,000.

During the proceedings, the Authority was supported by the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Finance Police.

Rome, 30^th September 2019