Royalties Council of the UK pays a prize of 140 million yen for "100% natural" substances

Many products that sang "100% natural" centered on foods are being served, but for such advertisementsThe Royal Institute of Chemistry"I will give out a one million pound prize (about 140 million yen) if I really bring in a substance that is" 100% chemical free "." What kind of circumstances did it have?

Details are as below.
RSC Press Release: £ 1,000,000 for 100% chemical free material?

First of all, the TV commercial of organic fertilizer 'Miracle Gro' aired in the UK.

Miracle-Gro 'Organic Choice' TV ad - 20 sec advert



A viewer got a complaint from the viewer that the organic fertilizer does not contain chemical substances as compared with the narration "It's 100% chemical-free (this product does not contain chemical substances)" in the vicinity of 10 seconds of this movie It was.

In contrast to Japan's JAROUK Advertising Standards Bureau(ASA-Advertising Standards Authority) "For the expression chemical - free in advertisements, who will accept "this fertilizer does not contain chemical substances"? Common sense · Generally it is not problematic since "raw materials of this fertilizer are all non-artifacts"It is calledI gave a comment.

However, the expression "free" is generally expressed as "there is no". For example "fat-free milk" represents "nonfat milk". Since organic fertilizer contains many chemical substances such as phosphorus and potassium, it is not "chemical-free".

In response to such advertisements, the Royal Institute of Chemistry in the press release "As a matter of course, all things that we see in the first place are "chemicals"It is. If obviously not so is brought here and we prove it we will pay £ 1 million (about 140 million yen). "

The Royal Institute of Chemistry is a very authoritarian organization, but "How to put perfect tea (pdf)There are also wit rich aspects such as announcing. Also in this press release, we are talking about tone, but it seems that we are tired of the recent trend of "Anything is good science" and "Anything is organic matter".

"Wave" "Minus ion" etc.Pseudo-science·Fake scienceBusiness is prevalent, but we may have to have an eye to distinguish what is scientific and what is not.

2008/11/27 18:43 Addendum
Several questions asked, "Misunderstood" by Tarekomi, but this is a British jokes.