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

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Author: George McKenzie

Article source: http://www.amazines.com/. Used with author's permission.

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