FTC: 'Acne Cure' Mobile App Claims Are Baseless

A few of the many zit zapper apps available online

We always think of new technology as something that improves our lives, advances culture and learning and so forth.  

But think back on all the new devices of the last few decades and ask yourself who first put them to the acid test.  Answer: scam artists and pornographers.  Remember the first time you got a junk fax? A robo-call? A mailbox full of spam?

Well, the smartphone app business is obviously coming of age: it has just recorded its first federal slapdown of baseless claims and misleading marketing.

The case involves AcneApp and Acne Pwner, two apps sold in Apple's iTunes Store and Google's Android Marketplace.  We're not quite clear on just exactly how their promoters could claim that an app could cure acne and neither is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

“Smartphones make our lives easier in countless ways, but unfortunately when it comes to curing acne, there’s no app for that,” said FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz.

Leibowitz might want to take a stroll through the apps bazaar.  A quick visit to the Android Marketplace turned up a full page of supposed acne cures, with names ranging from Aaarg Pimples Lite to Pizza Face and Pimple Popper.  

Colored lights

The FTC alleged that the mobile apps were advertised to work in the same way: both claimed to be able to treat acne with colored lights emitted from smartphones or mobile devices. Consumers were advised to hold the display screen next to the area of skin to be treated for few minutes daily while the app was activated.

According to the FTC complaint, there were approximately 3,300 downloads of AcnePwner, which was offered for 99 cents in the Android Marketplace. Ads for Acne Pwner stated, “Kill ACNE with this simple, yet powerful tool!”

The marketers of AcneApp claimed, “This app was developed by a dermatologist. A study published by the British Journal of Dermatology showed blue and red light treatments eliminated p-acne bacteria (a major cause of acne) and reduces skin blemishes by 76%.” There were approximately 11,600 downloads of AcneApp from the iTunes store, where it was sold for $1.99.

Unsubstantiated

The FTC charged the acne treatment claims made for both apps were unsubstantiated. It also charged that the marketers of AcneApp falsely claimed that the study in the British Journal of Dermatology proves that blue and red light therapy, such as the type provided by AcneApp, is an effective acne treatment.

The settlements in both cases would bar the marketers from making certain health-related claims without scientific evidence.

The cases involving mobile apps “AcneApp” and “Acne Pwner” are the first the FTC has brought targeting health claims in the mobile application marketplace.

The settlements would bar the marketers from making acne-treatment claims about their mobile apps and other medical devices, as well as the safety, performance, benefits, or efficacy claims about any device, without competent and reliable scientific evidence. The two marketers of AcneApp would also be barred from misrepresenting research, tests, or studies.

Finally, the settlement orders would require Koby Brown and Gregory W. Pearson, doing business as DermApps, to pay $14,294, and Andrew N. Finkle, doing business as Acne Pwner, to pay $1,700.