A newspaper advertisement of a mattress is circulating on social media with a claim that the mattress is ‘Coronavirus resistant’.
The text on the advertisement read, “Anti Corona Virus Mattress pe soyega India toh badhega India (India will progress if it sleeps on this anti-coronavirus mattress)”
The post started circulating in 2020 but has recently been revived on social media.
Posts carrying the same advertisement can be found here, here, and here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above posts and found the claim made in them to be false.
First, we ran a Google search and found a report by The Hindu that stated that Narpoli Police in Bhiwandi has registered an FIR against the company for the advertisement. The headline of the report read, “FIR against furniture manufacturer for advertising ‘anti-corona mattress’”.
The report mentions that when police questioned the shop owner, he could not produce any medical proof to back his advertisement.
We found another report by The Quint covering the same incident dated March 18, 2020. The headline of the report read, “FIR Against Maharashtra Store Over ‘Anti-Coronavirus’ Mattress Ad”.
It stated that the advertisement was published without any medical research and was published in an attempt to capitalize on people’s anxiety over coronavirus pandemic.
An FIR was registered under IPC section 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) as well as the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
Organisations like the World Health Organisation, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Centres For Disease Control have reiterated that getting jabbed, wearing face mask and maintaining social distancing are some of the ways to prevent coronavirus.
Therefore, the claim that COVID-19 can be prevented by a mattress is false.
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