Image copyright Google

A gift shop’s newspaper advert that featured a golliwog character has been banned by the advertising watchdog.

Viv Endecott, owner of the Ginger Pop Shop in Corfe Castle, Dorset, which is dedicated to the works of Enid Blyton, published the advert to promote a tea towel with the logo “English freedom”.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld two complaints, ruling it caused “serious or widespread offence”.

Ms Endecott said she was “proud” of the tea towel.

On its website, the shop describes itself as “all about Enid Blyton and her era”. Some of the children’s author’s books featured golliwogs, and her work has been criticised for being racist.

The ASA ruling followed two complaints about the advert published in the Purbeck Gazette in June.

Image copyright Ginger Pop Ltd

The ASA said: “We considered that many people were likely to view the character as representing negative racial stereotypes.”

It added that it also considered that the inclusion of the words “English Freedom” were likely to contribute to that offence, “because in combination with the image it could be read as a negative reference to immigration or race”.

The authority said the advert should not appear again.

‘Brexit’

In a statement, Ms Endecott said the tea towel was meant to “stimulate debate” and the shop had been “buzzing” with interest in it.

“I believe in free speech and a multiculturalism that celebrates the best of all humanity.

“The ‘good’ golliwog was on the tea towel to represent how it has become impossible to discuss anything to do with race without being accused of racism.

“This is important, because when we couldn’t talk about uncontrolled immigration, it paved the way for Brexit.”

Ms Endecott said she would not repeat the advert.

The Gollywog

• The Gollywog (or Gollywogg) was the creation of American author Florence Kate Upton who wrote a series of children’s stories inspired by a minstrel doll at the end of the 19th Century
• Her books were extremely successful in England and the golliwog doll became a popular children’s toy in the early 20th century
• Children’s author Enid Blyton later featured them in books such as Three Bold Golliwogs and A Muddle of Golliwogs
• The Golly first appeared on jars of Robertson’s Jam in 1910. It became one of the best-known marketing characters before being ditched by the company after 91 years in 2001
• Following the rise of the civil rights movements in the 1960s, the gollywogg became seen as a throwback to a time of racial stereotyping, caricature and oppression
• It proved controversial for its perceived racist connotations – The Greater London Council boycotted Robinsons products over its use of the character in the 1980s
• In 2009 the daughter of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was dropped as a BBC One Show reporter after referring to a tennis player as a “golliwog”
• An e was criticised and managers of a gift shop on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk apologised after they were found to be selling golliwog toys in 2009

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-37430242

Analysis of more than 200 studies conducted since 1950 finds no validity to drug industrys portrayal of testosterone as akin to a miracle drug for ageing men

A little more than a year ago, the Food and Drug Administration put the brakes on a massive push by drugmakers to market testosterone treatments to the average middle-aged man. A multimillion-dollar ad campaign had portrayed the drug as having extraordinary power to combat symptoms of ageing. But the FDA had become concerned about the potential for testosterone to increase heart risks.

The benefits and safety of testosterone treatments, the agency said in the order that ground the marketing campaign to a halt, have not been established.

Now, a group of researchers have announced that they have established the benefits: none.

The prescription of testosterone supplementation for low-T for cardiovascular health, sexual function, physical function, mood, or cognitive function is without support from randomized clinical trials, reads a new study, which was published on Wednesday in the open-access journal Plos One.

The study is an analysis of more than 200 others conducted since 1950 which compared testosterone with a placebo. And it is a sharp rebuke to an industry which spent years portraying testosterone as akin to a miracle drug for men feeling the ordinary effects of ageing.

We dont need to do further trials, said Adriane Fugh-Berman, a professor at the Georgetown University Medical Center and one of the studys authors. Fugh-Berman is also the director of PharmedOut, a Georgetown research group that scrutinizes drugs it suspects are over-diagnosed, often putting it at odds with the pharmaceutical industry, and she briefly acted as an expert witness in testosterone litigation. The evidence is very clear that testosterone does not help mens health. And the real risks of testosterone outweigh the illusory benefits.

The study is likely to deal a further blow to sales for testosterone supplements, which just three years ago topped $2bn annually. Driving those sales was a big ad campaign: from 2012 to 2013, the drugmakers AbbVie and Eli Lilly spent more than a quarter-billion dollars extolling testosterone treatments for men with a waning libido or low energy.

Critics saw an effort to put the drug in as many hands as possible with little supporting evidence. A popular test to identify men with low-testosterone or low-T which Fugh-Berman at the time criticized as a test that everyone will fail asked men if they found themselves feeling grumpy and becoming tired after dinner. Doctors gave out 2.3 million prescriptions for testosterone in 2013 alone, the FDA found up 75% from 2010.

But amid the boom, some experts raised concerns that benefits of testosterone were unproven for men experiencing the normal effects of ageing. Moreover, there was evidence that testosterone treatments posed a risk to cardiovascular health.

In late 2014, the FDAs advisory panel urged the agency to revise testosterone drugs labeling. The FDA followed though in March 2015. Eli Lilly and AbbVie had already slashed their ad spending by nearly 40% and seen a 10% drop in sales of the drugs. Now, the FDA had effectively barred them from targeting any more ads at otherwise healthy men who were simply getting old.

But the FDA only regulates the marketing of a drug. Doctors may continue to prescribe testosterone to ageing men off-label if they feel the treatments would be beneficial.

So the researchers Samantha Huo of Tulane University, Fugh-Berman and a team from Georgetown, and researchers from the University of South Florida, the University of IllinoisChicago, and toxicology consulting group set out to determine what the FDA hadnt: what were the benefits, if any, of regular testosterone supplements?

The researchers deliberately included in their review many low-quality studies that found a benefit from testosterone treatments, Fugh-Berman said. We wanted to give it the best possible chance of coming out with positive effects, and it didnt.

Still, some of the areas where testosterone was found to have no impact were surprising. In bodybuilders, which the study excluded because they take testosterone in very high doses, testosterone is shown to enhance muscle mass and strength. So researchers were puzzled when their findings included no evidence that testosterone increased strength for men diagnosed with low-T, even though it increased their muscle mass.

Another surprise came when researchers concluded the drug had no effect on sexual function. Everybody assumed it was helpful for erectile dysfunction, and we were surprised to find out it just isnt, said Fugh-Berman. There wasnt good evidence for this.

The study published on Wednesday did not include the small subset of men whose bodies do not produce any testosterone. In these individuals, who may have been born without or suffered damage to their testicles, testosterone treatment can be necessary to prevent bone loss. The study also excluded trans men, who take testosterone in high doses to help their bodies become more masculine.

So why doesnt testosterone treatment work?

One big reason may be that there are no agreed-upon parameters for what counts as normal and low testosterone for different age ranges. While levels tend to wane as men grow older, said Fugh-Berman, theres a broad range for normal at every age.

I think this question is settled, Fugh-Berman said. Theres no such thing as the fountain of youth.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/21/testosterone-treatments-men-no-benefits-study-fda

Image copyright GSK

GlaxoSmithKline has appointed Emma Walmsley, its current head of consumer healthcare, as its new chief executive.

Ms Walmsley, who joined the UK’s biggest drugmaker in 2010 from L’Oreal, will replace current chief Sir Andrew Witty in March 2017.

Ms Walmsley describes herself as “extremely competitive” with “a bit of a bias for action”.

She will be the firm’s first female chief executive, and one of only seven female FTSE 100 chief executives.

She spent 17 years at French cosmetics firm L’Oreal, where she worked in the UK, Europe, the US and China in marketing and management.

Ms Walmsley joined GlaxoSmithKline in 2010, and became a member of the executive team in 2011, running the division selling products including toothpaste, headache tablets and the malted barley drink, Horlicks.

The firm produces a broad spectrum of medical and consumer products from prescription medicines, vaccines and HIV treatments to skincare products.

‘Delighted and honoured’

Big firms have come under increasing pressure to change a culture where women can find it difficult to get into the boardroom.

Between 2012 and 2014, nearly three quarters of FTSE 100 companies had no female executives at all on their boards.

And data suggests that the gender pay gap widens after women return to work after their first baby.

Ms Warmsley, who is married with four children, will become chief executive of by far the biggest firm in the FTSE 100 with a woman at the top.

Analysis: Simon Jack, BBC Business editor

Emma Walmsley will become one of the most powerful business figures in the UK when she takes over as chief executive of GSK in March of next year.

The pharmaceutical giant is the fourth most valuable public company in Britain with 100,000 employs around the world, 16,000 of them here.

GSK has changed dramatically under her predecessor Sir Andrew Witty, with Ms Walmsley an important agent in that change.

After working at L’Oreal for 17 years, she was hired in 2010 in to boost the consumer products division which sells brands like Sensodyne and Panadol and now makes up nearly a quarter of the company’s revenues.

This diversification was a key strategy of the outgoing Sir Andrew Witty who believed it would mitigate the risks involved in drug development.

It was not without its critics, with many investors arguing the company would be worth more split into separate businesses.

After a bumpy few years punctuated by poor financial performance and drug mis-selling scandals in the US and China, GSK has recently hit a more confident stride.

Its shares have risen 20% over the last year and it recently invested 275m in expanding its UK manufacturing facilities.

In a statement, Ms Walmsley said: “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed GSK’s next CEO.

“I’m looking forward to working with Andrew and other leaders over the next few months to ensure a smooth handover and to develop plans for 2017 and beyond.”

Sir Andrew has been with GSK for more than three decades, having started as a management trainee.

During his nearly ten years as boss, Sir Andrew has overseen initiatives such as the firm’s plan to drop patents in the world’s poorest countries.

The firm has been developing what could be the world’s first malaria vaccine as part of a thirty-year project.

He has also weathered storms including China fining GlaxoSmithKline $490m (297m) in 2014 after a court found it guilty of bribery and the revelation that GSK cut secret tax deals with the authorities in Luxembourg in 2012.

Horlicks maker

As well as Horlicks, GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business includes brands such as Aquafresh toothpaste and Tums indigestion tablets.

Ms Walmsley’s appointment could be seen as a signal that GSK will keep its consumer operation as a core part of its business.

“Under Andrew’s leadership, GSK has successfully developed into a company with market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare,” chairman Philip Hampton said.

“These provide excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth, and we are confident Emma will successfully build on these strengths.”

GlaxoSmithKline employs around 16,000 people in the UK, with about 6,000 of those employed in manufacturing.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37416282