KEY POINTS:
The Advertising Standards Authority has taken a swing at claims of unparalleled healing properties for bottles of Bob Charles-branded deer velvet.
As a golfer, Sir Bob is one of New Zealand's finest. The same cannot be said of Sir Bob Charles SportsVel, "misleadingly" advertised as New Zealand's finest for joint support and mobility.
Last year, Sir Bob became the oldest golfer to make the cut on the European Open tour. He has attributed that longevity to using deer velvet. The 72-year-old, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame this year, owns a South Island deer farm and supplies deer velvet to Silberhorn, the Invercargill manufacturer of SportsVel.
But the complainant, R Robins, said the advert in the Grey Power magazine used Sir Bob's name to "imply veracity" to the product's claims.
"Why an ex-golfer paid to endorse a product should be more believable than an ex-All Black fronting a soon-to-fail finance company is a mystery," said Robins.
The controversy follows widespread criticism earlier this year about celebrities such as Richard Long and Colin Meads fronting campaigns for finance companies, some of which went belly-up soon after.
Sir Bob is one of only two New Zealanders to win a golf major. The other is Michael Campbell. Sir Bob has cemented his status as a New Zealand sports hero with decades of philanthropy, supporting young golfers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Silberhorn defended the advert, saying other deer velvet products did not meet the quality and performance of SportsVel. But the Advertising Standards Authority complaints board ruled the advert was misleading and the product could not be described as "New Zealand's finest".
