New York, NY-May 21, 2003. The Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CARU) is pleased to announce that Chattem Inc.has agreed to work with CARU by pulling a commercial for its acne medicine, pHisoderm® Clear Confidence™ Clear Swab (Clear Swab), from children's programming. Chattem further stated that it would try to ensure that ABC or any other network will not run future commercials of this nature during children's programming.

The commercial, which features smiling teen-agers holding and using the product, aired during ABC Kids' Saturday morning block of children's programming. CARU's Guidelines expressly state, in part: "Medications, drugs…should not be advertised to children."

Chattem stated that it did not intend the ad to run during any TV show that is directed to young children. The intended audience for pHisoderm® products is acne sufferers, which include teenagers, and Chattem believed that the placement of its commercial had been made to reach a teen target.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. Details of the inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD/CARU Case Report.

Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should email CARU.

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The National Advertising Review Council (NARC) was formed in 1971 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc. (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation. NARC is the body that establishes the policies and procedures for the CBBB's National Advertising Division (NAD), the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

NAD and CARU are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional and new media, including the Internet. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc panels are selected to adjudicate those cases that are not resolved at the NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry, while NAD/NARB's sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.