Hearing aids
photos and
Vouchers.
Hearing aids
photos and
Vouchers.
from
Recommend your friend, he does a hearing test – and you both get a voucher. Sounds like a harmless advertising model that many companies use. But special advertising rules apply to hearing aids and similar medical aids.
What had happened?
The company Amplifon operates over 500 hearing aid stores in Germany. It advertised the following promise on its website:
Existing customers who get a friend to do a free hearing test and then try out a hearing aid will receive a 50 euro voucher.
The referred new customer also receives 50 euros. The voucher could be redeemed either in the Amplifon range or at numerous other stores via Wunschgutschein GmbH.
A competition association sent Amplifon a warning letter. As no agreement was reached, the case ended up before the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg – and Amplifon lost.
Why is this forbidden at all?
Hearing aids are not ordinary products, but medical aids. In Germany, medical aids are subject to the Therapeutic Products Advertising Act. It is intended to prevent people from being persuaded by tempting offers to make medical decisions that they might not have made without the incentive. Vouchers, gifts or other non-cash benefits linked to the purchase or use of a medical device are therefore generally prohibited.
And what does the hearing test have to do with it?
Amplifon argued that the voucher was not linked to the purchase of a hearing aid. On average, there were over 40 days between the hearing test and a possible purchase and less than 15 percent of those tested would buy a device at all.
The Hamburg Higher Regional Court took a different view in its ruling of 05.02.2026 – 3 Ukl 1 /24. A hearing test serves to detect hearing loss, i.e. to determine a physical ailment. It therefore falls under the Medicinal Products Advertising Act. And because the voucher is directly linked to someone taking this test, the ban applies regardless of whether a device is subsequently purchased or not. The fact that the test is offered free of charge is also irrelevant.
The advertising measure is also product-related if the hearing tests are offered free of charge.
Are you also not allowed to pay a bonus to the referring friend?
Another aspect concerns the bonus for existing customers. After all, the customer does not actually buy a hearing aid, but merely acquires a new customer. Nevertheless, the court also declared this voucher to be inadmissible.
The court reasoned that if someone knows that their friend will receive a voucher as soon as they have completed the hearing test, they will urge their friend to do something good for them. This influences the friend’s decision without medical reasons being the main reason. This is exactly what the Medicinal Products Advertising Act aims to prevent.
No normal discount
Amplifon pointed out that the law allows so-called cash discounts, i.e. direct price reductions in monetary form. A voucher for 50 euros is exactly that.
The court also rejected this argument. A cash discount means that you pay less immediately when you make a purchase, similar to a discount at the checkout. A voucher that can only be redeemed later for another purchase is something different. It entices you to make your next purchase and is therefore not a real discount.
What does this mean for other companies?
Referral programs, loyalty points and friendship vouchers are still tricky in the field of medical devices and medical aids. The decisive factor is not whether a product is actually purchased in the end. It is sufficient if the advertising is linked to a medical service and creates a financial incentive.
Conclusion
What is a normal marketing tool in other industries can quickly become a legal violation in the therapeutic products sector. Particular caution is therefore required with such advertising campaigns.
Otherwise, there is a risk of costly cease and desist letters from competitors or associations.
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