Diet Pill Deception: US and Canada “Fake Out” Websurfers to Educate Them About Weight Loss Scams

At first glance, the diet pill site, FatFoe, promises
results that seem too good to be true.

In fact they’re not. True, that is.

So why would two watchdog agencies of the US and Canadian
governments put up a fake website purporting to sell a
“dream” diet pill? The diet pill, called ‘FatFoe’, claims
users can lose up to 10 pounds a week without exercising and
while still eating their favorite fatty foods.

The ‘FatFoe’ diet pill doesn’t exist, and claims made on the
website are impossible.

Once the user clicks on the link, they learn it’s all part
of an campaign by the USDA and Canada’s Competition Bureau
to warn customers off such “pie-in-the-diet-sky” diet pill
products.

The USDA and the Competition Bureau hope that websurfers
searching for “miracle” diet pills will stumble across the
site, and
learn a lesson

This “red flag” campaign began in February 2003, initially
to make the media aware of claims that should make it
question the efficacy of an advertised product:

A similar campaign in November 2004 ‘Operation Big Fat
Lie,’ resulted in legal action against a number of companies
that made at least one of the “red flag” claims in
advertising.

The Federal Trade Commission has since hit a number of
companies with big penalties and hefty fines in connection
with the campaign.

The campaigns appear to be working. In April of 2005, a
survey by the FTC revealed that the number of obviously
false weight-loss claims for diet pills, dietary
supplements, creams and patches fell dramatically, from 50
percent in 2001 to just 15 percent in 2004.

For additional information, and a list of “red flag” claims
all consumers should ignore, go to http://www.diet-pill.name

George McKenzie is a free lance writer and CEO of Mastermind
Learning Systems. He’s a former TV news anchor and radio
talk show host.

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