If you like to buy in the live broadcast room, pay attention.
On May 24, "Eastern Time and Space" made a report on "Live streaming is chaotic, who will supervise?" How to defend my rights? The report mainly points to live streaming of medicines. According to reports, some live broadcasts that are not doctors put on white coats, take products that are not "drug", claim to cure stubborn diseases that doctors cannot control, and then guide consumers to place orders for these expensive goods.
It is not a medicine that is sold, but for patients, what can cure the disease is not much different from medicine. Obviously, for the platform, this behavior of merchants has a great security risk.
Previously, based on strict supervision, live streaming platforms failed to implement drug sales. As early as the end of 2022, with the official implementation of the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Drug Sales, the Douyin platform announced the launch of the "OTC over-the-counter drug" category, but only accepted specific brand merchants to settle in, not for the entire market; By April this year, pharmacies invited to Douyin to sell drugs had basically stopped live streaming. The industry believes that this is to prevent risks.
As a result, after some operation, the pharmacy live selling medicine was controlled, and other players without qualifications began to cross the line. "Eastern Time and Space" said that these live broadcasts have been suspected of false publicity, and reported non-compliant live broadcast rooms.
Interestingly, after the report, CCTV reporters found that these live broadcast rooms were not affected at all, and continued to be sold.
Cure diabetes, right in the live broadcast room
Let "Eastern Time and Space" report the "selling medicine" live broadcast room without a door, which is a peach blossom-like world: chronic diseases that cannot be cured by doctors, there is a way in the live broadcast room.
Recently, a product called bitter melon Panax notoginseng complex peptide has attracted the attention of many diabetic patients. According to reports, on a live streaming platform, there are multiple anchor accounts selling this product, and the number of anchor fans is as high as 780,000.
When introducing the product, some anchors said that this product has an effect after 14 days of use, and it can get rid of diabetes in 3 months; Another anchor said that this product is not only aimed at people with high sugar, but also solves the fundamental problems of the body.
It is very consistent that most of these anchors appear in front of the camera wearing white coats, and the words "reduce sugar", "stop filming and needles", "return if you are not satisfied" will be prominently written in the background of the live broadcast room, visually creating a professional and reliable atmosphere for patients.
At present, products for diabetes are mainly aimed at middle-aged and elderly groups. The elderly are not good at comparing product details, product evaluation and other information, live streaming is a simpler and straightforward way, the anchors' mouth lotus flowers and the lively atmosphere of the live broadcast room are enough to convince the elderly.
For this group of patients, the live broadcast room not only provides miracle drugs such as "bitter melon three seven complex peptides" that hospitals do not have, but more importantly, the anchors will also answer the audience's questions one by one, which is a treatment that is difficult to get in the hospital.
But in fact, the streamers use very clever words. When interacting with the audience, anchors will basically choose acronyms to pronoun, such as "little sugar man" to represent diabetics, "small white tablets" to represent pills, and "needles" to represent insulin and other injections. Occasionally, when viewers asked if the anchor was a doctor, the anchor responded that he was a health manager.
In the face of these routines, middle-aged and elderly people find it difficult to distinguish between good and bad products, and out of the desire for diabetes cure, they finally place orders to try.
Grasping this psychology of consumers, some anchors even directly promote that products can "cure all diseases". When selling an amber powder that is used daily to calm the mind and disperse stasis and stop bleeding, the anchor said bluntly: poor sleep, hair loss, high sugar ester, high blood pressure, high uric acid, cold hands and feet, sciatica... Can be conditioned!
Selling drugs live, it's even harder
Once the consumer places an order, the host's task is basically completed. Although in the live broadcast, most streamers will promise to "return if they are not satisfied", in fact, the chance of returning is very small.
One of the main reasons is that although these products do not have the therapeutic properties advertised, most of them do not cause much harm to the human body.
Taking the above-mentioned bitter melon Panax notoginseng complex peptide as an example, "Eastern Time and Space" disclosed that the ingredient list of the product includes kudzu powder, dried Panax notoginseng pollen, bitter melon peptide powder, raspberry powder, bee pollen, ginseng (artificially planted) powder, oyster powder and yellow essence powder. Such a product is priced at 268 yuan in the live broadcast room.
Source: "Eastern Time and Space" column
In the mainland, the packaging of drugs with therapeutic functions will be marked with the "Sinopharm quasi-character"; The packaging of health products will be marked as "National Food Jianzi". On this product, there is only one food production license number, which has neither pharmaceutical nor health product attributes.
The reporter called the manufacturer, and the manufacturer said that this product can only be regarded as food, not called a drug. Pharmacists also said that this is not a drug and does not have a therapeutic effect.
Obviously, the live broadcast room is using false propaganda to fight sales, and this is not the first time that the merchant has done so.
In February this year, China's Haisi Quanzhou Channel released a report titled ""Bitter Melon Panax notoginseng Complex Peptide" Breaks Traditional Cognition and Achieves a New Breakthrough in Glucose Reduction", and Peptide Biological Group and Miaofangtang Traditional Chinese Medicine Center launched Lechengtang "Bitter Melon Panax notoginseng Complex Peptide" to bring new options for diabetic patients.
The report pointed out that the "bitter melon Panax notoginseng complex peptide" combines with cells in the body to restore the function of the organ, achieving the purpose of expressing blood sugar in accordance with the normal physiological and natural laws of the human body, and there are no side effects, helping the human body to carry out healthy maintenance. It is the same as the "solving the fundamental problems of the human body" mentioned by the aforementioned anchor in the product introduction.
According to Article 73 of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, food advertisements must not involve disease prevention and treatment functions; According to Article 17 of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, except for advertisements for medical treatment, drugs and medical devices, any other advertisements involving disease treatment functions are prohibited, and medical terms or terms that are likely to confuse the promoted goods with drugs and medical devices are prohibited.
Livestreaming drug sales have long been subject to safety and regulatory controversy. According to Douyin's live broadcast drug sales practice, even qualified pharmacies, the real live broadcast of drug sales test water is only 4 months, and then it was stopped.
At that time, some insiders said that this suspension may not have found a good model. After all, live streaming drug buying cannot be carried out according to the model of ordinary commodities, and it is most important to comply with regulatory laws and regulations. At the same time, the "Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising" began to be implemented in May this year, and the document put forward requirements for advertisements in the fields of medical treatment, medicines, medical devices, pesticides and other fields, and platforms also need time to adjust.
Many people believe that when the wave of Internet shopping is fierce, after the early "testing of the waters", live broadcast drug sales may usher in an opportunity. But unexpectedly, in this way, the risk of the pharmacy was controlled, but the unqualified live broadcast room used food to impersonate medicine, exploiting loopholes.
At present, the emergence of new problems undoubtedly means that supervision needs to be more comprehensive and effective. Otherwise, the live broadcast selling drugs that the people really need will only be far away.
Written by | niacinamide
Editor|Jiang Yun Jia Ting
Operations | Xichen
Image source | "Eastern Time and Space" column