The Decision
Türkiye’s Advertising Board (the “Board”) has issued an administrative fine against a company manufacturing one of the known baby diapers brad, together with an order to cease the advertisements in question. The decision[1] , concerned promotional materials for two product lines “BRAND + Ecologic Premium Plus+ Baby Diaper” and “BRAND+ Bio Natural Premium Plus+ Baby Diaper” appearing on the e-commerce platforms and social media.
Findings
The Board identified multiple categories of non-compliant claims:
- Unsubstantiated superlative claims: Phrases including “World’s First and Only*”, “Türkiye’s No. 1″, World’s first and only with pure natural and organic ingredients”, and “One of Europe’s Largest Baby Diaper Facilities” were found to have been made without the supporting evidence required under Article 9(3) of the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (the “Advertising Regulation”). The Board confirmed that comparative and superiority claims must be substantiated by reports from accredited or independent research, testing, and evaluation bodies, or from relevant university departments.
- Unsubstantiated environmental claims: The claim “The absorbent layer contains natural fibres that dissolve in nature” was determined to constitute an environmental declaration that had not been substantiated through accredited or academically recognized scientific studies, as required under Article 9 of the Advertising Regulation.
- Misleading image: The use of a visual depicting a plant sprouting from the diaper, alongside the biodegradability claim, was found to create a false consumer impression that the entire product would biodegrade in soil, when in fact only certain fibres within a single component had any potential biodegradability and even then, no scientifically validated timeframe data was provided.
- Consumer confusion regarding patent status: The use of “Patent Pending” on packaging without explanation of which product feature was the subject of the patent application was found to cause consumer confusion.
- Misleading “first and only” claims through minor ingredient additions: The Board found that adding a small number of ingredients lacking direct consumer benefit such as pure water, natural bamboo, and organic cotton while simultaneously claiming “World’s First and Only” status was misleading.
The Board has been applying fines for deceptive advertising practices, including on greenwashing and unsubstantiated environmental claims in recent years. Turkish practice requires that environmental claims must be true, and provable at the moment they are made. This decision underlines again that environmental claims, including biodegradability and natural ingredient statements, require accredited scientific substantiation. Also patent references should be accompanied by clear consumer-facing explanations of what the patent application covers.
With the Board’s enforcement activity continuing in 2026, the cost of non-compliance both financial and reputational is considerable.
[1] Advertising Board, 13 January 2026 dated Meeting, File no: 2025/1819
