False 1900 Advertising Caught in the Act

Branding proved to be misleading in stopping or easing menstrual flow

“Female Pills” were widely sold under the promise of not only relieving menstrual cramps but also eliminating or easing the menstrual flow. Instructions recommended taking one pill until four days before the “time when the menses should appear.” Common advertising claims were: “Depended upon as a monthly regulator; A Safe Emmenagogue, Always Reliable and Effective. The Best Known Remedy for the Suppression of the Menstrual Function.”

Around the 1920’s various regulatory commissions and district courts prohibited the future sale of Pennyroyal based products from the market citing fraudulent, false and misleading ‘misbranding’.

Robert Pierce Empress Brand of Tansy, Cotton Root, Pennyroyal and Apiol Tablets was cited in the following court ruling: “that the said statements were applied to the articles so as to represent falsely and fraudulently and to create in the minds of the purchasers thereof the impression and belief that they were effective as remedies for the suppression of the menstrual function, when, in truth and in fact, the said articles were not in whole or in part composed of and did not contain ingredients or a combination of ingredients capable of producing such therapeutic effects.”*

On June 28, 1921, it was ordered by the court that the Robert Pierce Empress Brand products be destroyed by the United States marshal. Similar brands were also ordered to be stricken from shelves across the country.

* http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/fdanj/bitstream/123456789/44438/4/FDNJ09784.pdf