If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…

Posted By elissa on Feb 2, 2010 | 2 comments

You know the rest of the saying, of course.

What amazes me, however, is the number of people who apparently DON’T know it.  ‘Take this recent FTC case, against the marketers of “Chinese Green Diet Tea” and the “Bio-Slim Patch,” for example.

A federal district court has ordered the marketers of an herbal tea and a diet patch to pay nearly $2 million to the Federal Trade Commission for making deceptive claims that both products would allow users to lose weight quickly without diet or exercise.

For nearly two years before the FTC complaint was filed, Bronson Partners, LLC and its officer, Martin Howard, marketed Chinese Diet Tea, telling consumers they could lose as much as six pounds a week by drinking one cup of the green tea after each meal to “neutralize the absorption of fattening foods.” Advertising in national magazines such as USA Weekend and Clipper Magazine, the marketers charged $24.95 plus shipping and handling for a month’s supply.

Also during this time, the marketers sold the Bio-Slim Patch, a diet patch that contained extracts from the fucus, garcinia, and guarana plants. Instructing consumers to wear the patches 24 hours a day for at least three months, the marketers claimed that “repulsive, excess ugly fatty tissue will disappear at a spectacular rate due to the combination and synergy of these three natural ingredients.” The marketers advertised the patch in national magazines and in a company catalog, and consumers paid $24.95 plus shipping and handling for a month’s supply.

According to the “Ruling and Order” document filed by the court, the defendants filled 57,177 orders for the tea over a two-year period, and 1,990 orders for the patch.  Looks like the tea was fairly popular, despite the fact that the claims were clearly outrageous. According to the defendants, drinking a cup of tea after meals would:

• eliminate 91% of absorbed sugars
• prevent 83% of fat absorption
• double metabolic rate
• help users stop snacking

And – of course – they also promised users could “eat [their] favorite foods – but STILL lose weight!” 

Gee – where have we heard THAT one before? <sarcasm intended> Yet 57,000 people still bought it. If the FTC hadn’t nailed them in the “Big Fat Lie” enforcement sweep, that number would almost certainly be higher.

So I guess it bears repeating, after all: if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.