False Marketing

So right now I am watching television shopping. Almost everyone gets to see them, with obvious actors paid to say how well the product works. I'm not talking about regular commercials either, I mean the ones that last at least 10 minutes long.

Anyway, the product being advertised right now is a so called "Sauna belt". It is a belt which can be attached to your legs, your butt, your stomach, your chest and anywhere else. It helps to remove the toxins in the fat underneath your skin and you'll sweat them out, with maximum results in a minimum amount of time. You will start losing pounds in no time, the woman on tv right now lost 2 inches in an hour. Hell, the models on tv even got a six pack from it, rock hard abs. It sounds too good to be true, getting an incredible body without even having to exercise.



Well, guess what.... it sounds too good to be true, because IT IS. How can it even be allowed by the law that companies like this are trying to mislead consumers with trash like this?? The product I just mentioned is just one out of dozens of completely useless, overpriced items which don't do what they are marketed with. You don't lose fat in a sauna, so why would you lose fat with a sauna belt sitting on your ass behind the computer eating doritos?? I seriously wonder why the governments anywhere in the world haven't banned this type of marketing yet, because scientific proof can be found that it doesn't work. I don't see the difference between a con artist and the people running these type of companies.
 
The electroshock things that claimed they give you a workout while you sit around were banned a while ago. I'm not sure if they worked or not but I do remember seeing a documentary about bruce lee where they showed him back in the day writing a script while wearing one.
 
From all I've heard is that most Advertising laws are "guidelines" and companies can very easily get away with breaking them. It's so sad. I hate it and it really pisses me off. :grumpy: .
 
If it is a law then it is not a guideline. You have guidelines or laws. Guidelines are suggestions, and laws you must follow. There are laws about false advertisement.
 
Not strict enough, that's for sure. It's the same with all the creams and lotions you can rub onto your body to get thin. Or clearasil for example, that won't remove your acne, it might actually only make it worse.
 
The electronic belt does nothing for you. It'll contract the muscles a little, but that does nothing for you. To build muscle mass, you need to tear apart the muscle fibres so that you grow new, biggger muscle cells which will make your muscles bigger. Working out and having pain is the only way to get bigger muscles.
 
cardude2004
If it is a law then it is not a guideline. You have guidelines or laws. Guidelines are suggestions, and laws you must follow. There are laws about false advertisement.
There are laws but they aren't strictly enforced either. Companies get away with a lot of stuff.
 
Sauna Belt thing, really doesn't work? Sounded like a good idea....... :P
 
Has anyone seen this new item called the G-Whiz?

Supposedly, it tells you the G's your getting when turning a wheel.
And I'm thinking, "Who the hell is actually going to need this when out driving on the road to work?"

"Hey Bob, I pulled xx G's."
"Wow Ted...."
 
My neighbour who is a marketing executive has some good advice for this sort of thing.

Never believe anything that's said in an advertisement. Never believe a promise made through marketing.
 
The exception of all of these useless products and false advertisments is the Total Gym exercise machine (I hope), the Info-mercial has been on TV for about 5 years. Either (A) Chuck Norris and the other cast members of the info-mercial are very good at deception and persuasion, or (B) that product really works. Ever since I saw the commercial, which was 2 years ago, I've been thinking about buying one. I'm still pleased to see that the info-mercial is still around.
 
Solid Lifters
The electronic belt does nothing for you. It'll contract the muscles a little, but that does nothing for you. To build muscle mass, you need to tear apart the muscle fibres so that you grow new, biggger muscle cells which will make your muscles bigger. Working out and having pain is the only way to get bigger muscles.

But from the standpoint of weight loss it may have a slight affect given that each contraction costs energy (regardless of whether it helps build muscle or not). Personally I've aways followed the "eat whatever the **** you want and run ten miles every day" weight management program.
 
xcsti
Personally I've aways followed the "eat whatever the **** you want and run ten miles every day" weight management program.
Exactly what I do, except replace run with cycle, and 10 miles with about 20. I'll never give up the foods I love to eat.
 
We got an advertisement in the UK changed.

The product was "Cillit Bang", a limescale remover.

The claim went (voice-over):
"Limescale is simply calcium that sticks."

Followed by a shot of a ~500g lump of "calcium" dropping into a water/Cillit Bang mixture.


Several of us complained to the Advertising Standards Agency that not only is limescale calcium carbonate, but if you were to drop a lump of calcium that size into water you wouldn't have much of a studio left - what they were showing WASN'T what was happening.

They've now added the word "carbonate" to the commercial.
 
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