Don't get duped by weight-loss ads
20 July, 2004
By:Stacy Johnson
We live in an age where it sometimes seems that if you can imagine it, science can deliver it. After all, if we can go to the moon, why can’t we unravel the mysteries of the common cold? Or excess weight?
Two of the most sought-after breakthroughs are indeed finding a cure for the common cold, and that ever-illusive magic pill that makes a person cover-girl thin.
While science has not and probably never will deliver such wonders, a lot of greedy pill pushers still make good money on the desperate dreams of overweight folks. Their claims of easy weight loss are ridiculous at the least, and costly, perhaps even dangerous, at the most.
Don’t Believe What You See in the Media
One reason a lot of hopeful men and women bite at such bait is because they see the advertisements on TV and in newspapers and magazines. The assumption is either “My favorite news channel is reputable and honest…” or, “The local newspaper wouldn’t publish bogus stuff…”
The assumption continues to be that if the media accept these types of advertisements, well then these claims of losing weight while you sleep, or popping an anti-fat pill for a couple of weeks must be on the up and up.
But they’re not.
In its anti-fraud campaign, the Federal Trade Commission appeals to the media advertising industry with its Red Flag Bogus Weight Loss Claims brochure. This brochure does exactly what it says: “red flags” the bogus weight loss promises and appeals to the media’s sense of responsibility to the consumer. The media can choose to run these advertisements or not. The FTC would like them not to.
The Red Flag brochure is just as effective a tool for consumers as it is for advertising execs.
QVC Charged for Bogus Claims
When necessary, the FTC will charge a media outlet just as it does the promoters of fast weight loss products.
The shopping channel, QVC, was charged earlier this year for “making false or unsubstantiated claims” in its sales pitches for cellulite and weight loss products.
“My Earrings Melted Away the Fat”
The Federal Trade Commission estimates Americans are spending around $5 billion a year on weight-loss products that don’t work.
Individual consumers spend hundreds of dollars on gimmicks
as ridiculous as wearing a pair of earrings that “make
you lose
weight the longer you wear them,” or by popping
a pill, drinking a potion, or rubbing in a lotion that
will attack fat and cause permanent weight loss.
The FTC has yanked some advertisements from media outlets because the spots or infomercials are just out and out fraud. But they can’t do that with all of these false claims. So, the best warning they offer is this: if the weight loss ad sounds like a “miracle” or presents weight loss as “easy and fast,” it would behoove the consumer to avoid the offer.
Dangerous Claims
The claim that you can lose “30 pounds in 30 days” is a dangerous carrot to dangle in front of a desperate person. The American Society of Bariatric Physicians explains some of the dangers in such promises. It’s hardly a safe idea to drink teas that merely soak up body fluids. Nor is it a good idea to ingest over-the-counter ingredients that the authorities consider to be unsafe for weight loss.
“The only way to lose weight is to eat a proper diet and exercise. Those are the two main things,” says ASBP doctor Robert Bell. “There is no pill, there is no nothing that’s going to take it off and keep it off.”
It might not be the preferred route of overweight people, but it’s the only safe and sound route. You can read more weight management and obesity treatment at the American Society of Bariatric Physicians website.
Bottom line? Responding to bogus claims, no matter where you see them or how convincing they are may lighten your wallet, but not your body.
Source:http://kobtv.com
|
