Why are people so vulnerable to weight loss scams? (March 3, 2010)

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The Federal Trade Commission found in 2002 that:

The use of false or misleading claims in weight-loss advertising is rampant. Nearly 40% of the ads in our sample made at least one representation that almost certainly is false and 55% of the ads made at least one representation that is very likely to be false or, at the very least, lacks adequate substantiation. The proliferation of such ads has proceeded in the face of, and in spite of, an unprecedented level of FTC enforcement activity, including the filing of more than 80 cases during the last decade.

This report contained a survey … More >

In the late 1990’s a full page ad for “SlimAmerica” appeared in the Oakland Tribune.  The ad claimed that major Universities had been involved in the development of a new, incredibly effective weight loss drug that caused “the fat to melt off your body like an ice cube melts on a sweltering hot August day.”   I sent a letter of complaint stating that the claims in the ad could not be substantiated to the newspaper as well as to the Federal Trade Commission, never expecting to hear from either.  Months later I was contacted by an FTC attorney telling me … More >