APMA News - July/August 2017 - 13

50th Anniversary of APMA's Seal Program

The APMA Seal of Acceptance is a search filter on consumer websites
such as Nordstrom.com.

In the first six months of 2017,
APMA.org pages for the Seal
and its various products had
100,247 page visits-an average
of more than 550 views per day!
"is an effective foot health aid and of significant value when
used in a consistently applied program of daily foot care and
regular professional treatment." Three weeks later, a press conference was held announcing Mennen had been granted the Seal
of Acceptance.
Initially, the terms "Seal of Acceptance" and "Seal of Approval" were seemingly used interchangeably and inconsistently. In fact, the first three products granted the Seal would
now be considered "Approval" products rather than "Acceptance" products. A consensus on a distinction between the two
terms seems to have been reached in 1982 when it was announced the Seal of Acceptance would be awarded to "nondrug products 'for which evidence of safety and usefulness has
been established by laboratory and/or clinical evaluation.'"2
The Seal program was initially managed in conjunction with
the Development department at APMA and required a grant
from companies to participate. However, that procedure
changed in 1997 following a botched marketing partnership
between AMA and the Sunbeam Corporation. AMA granted a
blanket five-year endorsement to all Sunbeam products, resulting in intense backlash from consumer groups and others stating that the arrangement was a conflict of interest. AMA pulled
2 '"Seal of Acceptance' To Be Granted By The American Podiatry
Association," press release, October 20, 1982.

Three Mennen Company products under the Quinsana brand were the
first granted the Seal of Acceptance in 1967.

out of the deal a week after the announcement and was sued by
Sunbeam for breaking its contract.3
With this precedent in mind, APMA sought to rewrite the
guidelines for the Seal program and eliminated the educational grant requirement. This change set the stage for the current
Seal program. In the past two decades, the program has grown
in prestige, and while it was initially modeled after the ADA
program, it now far surpasses that program in its total number
of products and participants, and it may be the largest such
program provided by any medical association.
The Seal provides an invaluable service for the public.
Consumers readily see the Seal on television (QVC and the
Home Shopping Network display the Seal while selling products such as Vionic shoes), online (both Nordstrom.com and
Zappos.com feature the "APMA Seal of Acceptance" as a
search filter), and in drugstores across the country on products like insoles, therapeutics, and more.
In the first six months of 2017, APMA.org pages for the Seal
and its various products had 100,247 page visits-an average of
more than 550 views per day! As impressive as that is, this total
represents an increase of more than 10 percent compared to the
last six months of 2016. It is clear savvy consumers know where
to go to find the best products for their foot health.
For more information about the Seal program and to see a
list of current products, visit www.apma.org/seal.
n
In the next issue of APMA News, read interviews with former committee members and APMA staff to learn more about the work of the
Podiatric Seals Committee and how the program has evolved.

3 Glenn Collins, "Sunbeam Sues A.M.A. On Voided Marketing Deal,"
New York Times, September 9, 1997, accessed July 12, 2017, www.
nytimes.com/1997/09/09/business/sunbeam-sues-the-ama-onvoided-marketing-deal.html.
APMA News July/August 2017

http://www.Nordstrom.com http://www.APMA.org http://www.Nordstrom.com http://www.Zappos.com http://www.APMA.org http://www.apma.org/seal http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/09/business/sunbeam-sues-the-ama-on-voided-marketing-deal.html http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/09/business/sunbeam-sues-the-ama-on-voided-marketing-deal.html

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - July/August 2017