Infomercial Mayhem

by: AndreaDow
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Word Count: 592

Tuesday, September 19th

It is impossible to turn on the T.V. after midnight without finding an infomercial on one of the channels. More and more, daytime T.V. is also filled with these false and misleading ads. The ads always sound so good though, how do we know if they are legitimate? When doctors and "experts" appear to back the product, we think that is enough evidence for us to shell out our cash. But buyer beware, by and large, these products are backed by paid actors, poor research and false claims. Here are several examples below to help you become a better consumer thanks to Nutrition Action Newsletter contributer David Schardt.

Nature Made Calcium Citrate- claims to be "recommended by pharmacists". Unfortunately, the latest industry reports showed that less than 2% of pharmacists recommend this calcium supplement.

Chromax 1000 Chromium Picolinate- is reported to be "doctor's strength". The amount of chromium picolinate in this product is 25 times more than what is needed as a daily adequate intake, yet doctors have no reason to ever prescribe chromium picolinate supplements. The studies currently show little evidence that this supplement can help control weight or blood pressure. Be wary of products that claim they are "now available without a doctor's prescription". "Now" simply indicates an advertising call to action. Doctors never had a legitimate need to prescribe this medicine to patients in the past. Do not be fooled by this statement!

Advanced Formula Shen Min Hair Loss Solution- claims to be "doctor approved, doctor recommended and from a doctor's formulated blend.". When Nutrition Action contacted the company to get the doctor's names, they never received a response. Just because a company claims a doctor backs the product, this claim may not be true.

How about the "world's most powerful" products? Yet another bogus claim and amazingly there are nine weight-loss supplements out there claiming to be the word's most powerful. Forget Metabolene, MiracleBurn, Termocerin and Cylaris in your weight loss quest.

Many company websites use the claim "as seen on TV" to promote their product. With further research, most of these products never made it on the shows they claim to have appeared on or the product was criticized when it did appear on TV.

How about patented products? The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office only requires inventions to be "new" and have "a useful purpose". The Patent Office does not require a company's product to work because they claim that the cost of company's proving their product does work would cost too much money and prevent "promising new inventions". Even a Patent and Trademark spokesperson admits that dietary supplements are available for patent "well before the product is ready to be administered to human beings".

If you ever wondered how easy it would be to make a false infomercial, check out NBC's Dateline segment on creating a bogus dietary supplement. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14856571. You will be amazed at how easy it was for them to make a fake product, fake company, and find a producer for their fake infomercial. People were hired to promote their fake moisturizer using phrases like "I would feel my cheeks and they were like velvety smooth and I'd go, wow, this is just totally amazing!" Even the chief of dermatology at Santa Monica Hospital was willing to appear in the ad for a mere $5,000. The ad never appeared, but a great consumer lesson was learned!

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