If you are making business in Brazil, it should concern you.
Sometimes, marketing messages can make companies direction cringe.
That's what happened with a Pharmaceutical company image in Brazil that lost plenty of money because of a false and deceptive content advertising (see in the judgment of Federal Court of São Paulo State - TRF3).
In this case, the Brazilian Federal Court considered a Pharmaceutical Company guilty disregarded Anvisa's rules for advertisement.
This is because the Pharma Company announced a prescription drug making comparisons with competitor's prescription drug without relying on information proven by clinical studies published in indexed publications; and also for not having presented bibliographic references that support the use of the expressions "better quality of life for diabetics" and "quick start of action".
Can you imagine this drama? Yes, a severe penalty against the company and its image with the consumer market.
Please, note: according with the Brazilian legislation (article 10 of Federal Law 6.437/77 and article 9 of Federal Law n. 9.294/96), an advertising cannot be misleading, cannot make false claims or or lead consumer an error.
Otherwise, it can be considered as a crime
Besides the applicable fines, the Brazilian Law also gives power to Anvisa to seizure the product in the market and even to cancel the marketing authorization in the case of misbranding or false advertisement.
Luckily, in this case either Anvisa and the Judiciary understood the fine was enough to solve the damage.
According to the judge-rapporteur, the decision that condemns the payment of a fine fulfills the expected pedagogical and punitive function of this type of penalty.