Why You Should Re-Think That Weight Loss Product Purchase
In what can only be considered the most appropriate timing possible (hello, New Year’s resolutions to get in shape!), the Federal Trade Commission has charged four companies with deceptively marketing weight loss products this week. The four companies charged will be paying a collective $34 million to refund customers who bought into the promises of losing weight without diet or exercise.
It’s no secret that weight loss companies go to extremes for marketing, claiming that a cream, pill or food additive will help slim you down while you can enjoy however much food and lack of exercise your heart desires. From commercials boasting weight loss testimonies of “real life customers” to before and after transformations in print, weight loss companies have the advertisements down to a science. What they don’t have down to a science, however, is their actual product.
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“Resolutions to lose weight are easy to make but hard to keep,” Jessica Rich, the director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “And the chances of being successful just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing cream on your thighs or using a supplement are slim to none. The science just isn’t there.” So what’s the F.T.C. doing to stop false claims from recurring? Tightening up their regulations for approval, only accepting double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to document the medical effectiveness of diet regimes.
While we’re glad to hear that the new regulations (and refunds) will help customers to gain a more educated understanding of weight loss products before purchasing, we’re wondering what this means for the weight loss industry as a whole. Will people continue to purchase weight loss products, despite false claims, because it seems like the easy way out of diet and exercise? Only time will tell.
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