It is the most regulated category there is: here is what can be said, what cannot, and how video works within those limits.
What cannot be promised
Five families of sentences, and they are enough to have a campaign pulled.
Curing, treating, healing, preventing an illness or reducing its symptoms.
Comparing a product with a medicine, or suggesting it replaces one.
Promising a result, a timescale, an absence of side effects.
Recommending a use to everybody, with no distinction of situation.
And telling a personal experience that, in fact, describes a therapeutic effect.
One safety rule simplifies everything: the person on screen says nothing the brand has not supplied in writing, word for word.
What can be shown
Four things, and they are enough for a good video.
The practical gesture: how it opens, how it is dosed, how it is stored, how it is disposed of.
Accessibility: the readability of the leaflet, the size of the type, how easy it is to open for an older hand.
The journey: where the product is found, what to ask at the counter, what to bring.
And the service experience: the wait, the welcome, the availability, what happens when you come back.
Trust is the real product
Three reasons why this category rewards restraint.
The audience arrives with mistrust, and an enthusiastic video increases that mistrust instead of reducing it.
Useful information is rare: most available content is either promotional or alarmist.
And the decision is often made for somebody else: a parent, a child, an older relative.
A calm, precise video explaining a mechanism without promising anything gets results in this category that the usual tone never will.
The professional must stay central
Two principles, and they protect everybody.
Any question calling for medical advice explicitly points to a professional, in the video itself, not in small print.
And the brand never substitutes itself for that relationship: it informs, it makes things easier, it does not advise.
What is possible depending on the category
| Category | What remains possible | What is ruled out |
|---|---|---|
| A cosmetic | Showing the texture and the gesture | A therapeutic claim |
| A device | Showing the packaging and the leaflet | Personal usage advice |
| A medicine | Referring to the pharmacist | Any promotion |
What is read on screen rather than spoken
The label, the composition and the leaflet. Filming the official text avoids rephrasing it, and rephrasing is almost always what turns a permitted sentence into a forbidden one.
What is approved before release
The full script, the product's exact status and the mandatory notices, to be confirmed with a lawyer and with the responsible health professional.
The creator to choose
Three profiles, and the first is the safest.
The person talking about their daily organisation, without ever touching the medical: preparing, storing, not forgetting, carrying.
The identified professional, with their credentials displayed, within the strict limits of what they may say.
And the carer, who accompanies a relative and describes logistics, which is at once useful, honest and risk-free.
The profile to avoid absolutely: the person telling of their recovery. It is the most watched content in the category and the only one that seriously exposes the brand, however carefully worded.
Sources
Checked on 4 September 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
