FTC Files Charges Against "1 Weird Tip" Fake Article & Testimonial Online Marketers (15)
FTC Files Charges Against "1 Weird Tip" Fake Article & Testimonial Online Marketers
From http://www.ftc.gov/system/files/docu...9npbcmpt_0.pdf
Defendants Make Weight-Loss Claims Through Their Websites and Advertising.
21. To induce consumers to purchase Pure Green Coffee, starting in approximately May
2012, Defendants have disseminated, or caused to be disseminated, online banner
advertisements and text advertisements that appear as paid search results on search engines,
for Pure Green Coffee that link to Pure Green Coffee websites. These advertisements
include, but are not limited to, the following statements:
acid found in green coffee beans.
B. 1 Tip to Lose Belly Fat
Cut Pounds of Stomach Fat Every Week By Using This 1 Weird Old Trick
www.buypuregreencoffee.com
C. Drop 3 Dress Sizes
Buy Pure Green Coffee
Discover the Shocking Truth About AMERICA’s Hottest Diet
22. To induce consumers to purchase Pure Green Coffee, starting in approximately May
2012, Defendants also have disseminated, or caused to be disseminated, advertisements for
Pure Green Coffee on the Pure Green Coffee websites that include the video footage from
The Dr. Oz Show, attached as a DVD as Exhibit 2 and excerpted above at Paragraph 17. (Tr.
attached as Ex. 1.)
23. To induce consumers to purchase Pure Green Coffee, starting in approximately May
2012, Defendants also have disseminated, or caused to be disseminated, advertisements for
Pure Green Coffee on their websites that include, but are not limited to, the following
statements:
national meeting in San Diego, 16 overweight young adults took, by turns, a
low dose of green coffee bean extract, a high dose of the same green coffee
supplement, and a placebo. Though the study was small, the results were
striking: Subjects taking the full dose of the green coffee extract lost an
average of 17.5 pounds in 22 weeks and reduced their overall body weight by
10.5%!
B. Users lost an average of 17 pounds in just 12 weeks.
C. Lose 20 pounds in just 4 weeks.
D. Buy 3 months and get 2 FREE bottles . . . Lose up to 30 lbs and 4-6 inches of
belly fat!
E. Buy 2 months and get 1 FREE bottle . . . Lose up to 20 lbs and 2-4 inches of
belly fat!
F. Buy one-month supply . . . Lose up to 10 lbs and 1-2 inches of belly fat!
....
Defendants Use Fake-News Websites to Promote and Sell Pure Green Coffee.
26. To induce consumers to purchase Pure Green Coffee, Defendants have used websites
designed to look like legitimate consumer news sites or blogs that were in fact paid
advertisements. These websites had domain names such as dailyconsumeralert.org,
healthylivingreviewed.com, econsumerlifestyle.com, and healthydietingreports.org. The
sites, which consumers often reached by clicking on banner ads, featured what appeared to be
mastheads for news organizations ... In addition, the fake-news sites included comments posted by
purported consumers. The fake-news sites featured video footage from The Dr. Oz Show
discussing green coffee bean extract, and linked to the Pure Green Coffee websites.
Pushing Rebills with Farticles / Flogs is very risky proposition in the US, You have to run fully compliant if you want to run Advertorials in order to make sure you are covering you A$$. But the catch is when you run them in a complaint manner, it becomes very challenging to make them profitable.
Anybody know if CA, AU, GB etc. have a similarly scary consumer protection agency?
People never learn and I expect to see a new FTC lawsuit every 6-9 months. You can not just create fake clinical studies or make up testimonials out of thin air.
Do not make outlandish or fake claims.
FTC usually gets very aggressive pursuing Diet stuff every 3-4 years. I feel there's a big sweep coming shortly. This is how it built that last time when we got caught up in it.
There will be a big sweep, everyone will get scared and get out. Then slowly will come back after the another 3-4 years and happen again. I've been through this cycle 2 times before.
Hah, you can do anything in Serbia and no one will do a thing. They don't even have a consumer protection group to protect you if you buy something in the store, and they refuse to exchange it or give you warranty. Or if you build a house, and the work isn't performed properly (ie they didn't hook up your electricity correctly) you have no one to complain to.
By law everyone has to offer 2 years warranty on everything from household products to service work.. recently I had a problem with the electrician, and also with the contractor that made the pool... they know there's 2 year warranty time only, so when you call them they say I can't come now, call me next week, you call them then, they say sorry I am sick, call me next week.. buy time all the way until the 2 year runs out, after that they are happy to come for a fee to fix the mistakes they made 2 years ago. Hehe SeRbia the wild wild west 
Just gymming at the moment and saw Dr. oz on TV in court, being sued by FTC or something regarding Garcinia. On the news in Sydney...
Why not just get out of the US?
Must be some profits to be had if you guys wilfully put up with FTC bullshit.
29. In addition to Defendants’ own fake-news pages, Defendants employed entities
known as affiliate marketers, which used the same fake-news format to lure consumers to
Pure Green Coffee sites.
Defendants hired these affiliate marketers through third parties
known as affiliate networks, which match merchants with the affiliate marketers.
For each consumer who views an affiliate marketers’ advertisement and then takes a specific action,
such as clicking through to, or making a purchase on, one of Defendants’ Pure Green Coffee
sites, Defendants pay a fee to the affiliate network, which in turn pays a fee to the affiliate
marketer.
The affiliate marketers’ websites employed a fake-news format substantially
similar to the Defendants’ own fake news pages and also linked to Pure Green Coffee
websites.
30. The purported news webpages used to lure consumers to the Pure Green Coffee
websites failed to disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner that they are not objectively
evaluating the Defendants’ products, programs, and services and, in fact, are being paid to
promote the products, programs, and services.
31. In truth and in fact, the purported news webpages – both Defendants’ own news
pages and those of affiliate marketers – are fake. Reporters or commentators pictured on the
sites are fictional, and they never conducted the tests or experienced the results described in
the reports. The “responses” and “comments” following the reports are simply additional
advertising content, not independent statements from ordinary consumers.
...
39. Section 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 52, prohibits the dissemination of any false
advertisement in or affecting commerce for the purpose of inducing, or which is likely to
induce, the purchase of food, drugs, devices, services, or cosmetics. For the purposes of
Section 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 52, Pure Green Coffee is either a “food” or “drug” as
defined in Section 15(b) and (c) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 55(b) and (c).
...
49. Through the means described in Paragraphs 26 through 31, Defendants have
represented, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication, that:
objective news reports;
B. Objective news reporters have performed independent tests demonstrating the
effectiveness of Pure Green Coffee; and
C. The comments following the “news articles” express the views of independent
consumers.
50. In truth and in fact:
advertisements made to appear as objective news reports;
B. Objective news reporters have not performed independent tests demonstrating
the effectiveness of Pure Green Coffee; and
C. The comments following the “news articles” on the websites linking to
Defendants’ Pure Green Coffee websites do not express the views of
independent consumers.
Do you think this company REFUNDED customers promptly? If they had a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee and actually complied with it (like Clickbank) do you think the FTC would have cracked down on them?
Originally Posted by waltermitty
The art of marketing is about communicating the true benefits of a product or service and finding innovative methods to help and persuade consumers make a purchase decision.
David Ogilvy once wrote:
"Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine."
He was a true practitioner of the art of marketing.
Respect.
Originally Posted by beastmode
Originally Posted by iamattila
By law everyone has to offer 2 years warranty on everything from household products to service work.. recently I had a problem with the electrician, and also with the contractor that made the pool... they know there's 2 year warranty time only, so when you call them they say I can't come now, call me next week, you call them then, they say sorry I am sick, call me next week.. buy time all the way until the 2 year runs out, after that they are happy to come for a fee to fix the mistakes they made 2 years ago. Hehe SeRbia the wild wild west
Its pure laziness and greed that company by my estimate has done no less than 25M in business over the past couple of years.
Plenty of time and money to seek out legit testimonials and or hire a decent copywriter.
Originally Posted by waltermitty
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