Trade Mark Owners Fight Back Against Deceptive Testimonials
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Dick Smillie, writing at Forbes, had a nice article in June, 2009 about the deceptive marketing practices of anti-aging shills for resveratrol and Dr. Oz, the medical authority seen on Oprah. Dick writes:
"Rag-tag sites peddle resveratrol using Dr. Oz's imprimatur far more aggressively.
There's the incorrectly spelled "Dr. Os Resveratrol," fronted by a photo of a beaming Dr. Oz, stating, "How would you like to live to be 125?"
There is "Dr. Oz Resveratrol," "Dr. Oz Anti-Aging Secrets" and "Dr. Oz Resveratrol Wrinkle Cream."
Another says, "Click Here to Get Free Dr. Oz's Resveratrol Top Choice!"
Many of these sites draw from 30,000 to 160,000 unique visitors a month--some more, according to Quantcast.
These pages often display earlier reports on CBS' ( CBS - news - people )60 Minutes and a Harvard study lauding the health benefits of resveratrol.
I did not see the Oprah show, but I do remember the 60 Minutes show and was rather alarmed by the apparent endorsement of resveratrol, despite the scientist's claims that the manufacture of the drug for humans was five years away.
Here is the 60 Minutes show on antiaging and resveratrol.
Predictably, especially since Dr. Oz is going to have his own medical show starting September 2009, the trademark owners sued the marketers.
As reported by PC Mag, the lawsuit against the resveratrol marketers complains that
"The companies also used video services like YouTube to upload footage from the Oprah Winfrey Show featuring Dr. Oz, which lawyers claim is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
"Had their permission been sought, plaintiffs would have flatly refused to consent to the use of plaintiffs' property in connection with the infringing products," the suit said.
In addition, the suit claims that consumers who did purchase items on these sites were often met with credit card scams and undelivered orders."
Dick Smillie also noted that the states AG were pursuing the resveratrol marketers.
"On the same day as the Oprah/Dr. Oz suit, the Illinois Attorney General filed three lawsuits in Cook County circuit court against suppliers of acai berries and resveratrol, along with related entities who have been using Oprah's name to market these supplements on the Web.
The AG's investigation began after Harpo Inc. relayed the mounting complaints. Two of the named companies, Netalab Corp. and Crushed LLC, are defendants in both suits."
But currently, the most popular article on ezine articles, with over 70,000 views since February 16, 2009, as of August 21, 2009, has the title: "How I Lost 30 Pounds in Under 30 Days Using The Acai Berry", and only a brief mention of Dr. Oz, saying only: "There was a time when I was grossly overweight. At that time, I had no clue about the acai berry. I was fat, ugly, sloppy and laden with a negative attitude. This is when I saw Dr. Oz explaining about the acai berry on CNN. I was impressed and decided to try the acai berry myself. This is what it did to me"The breezy article ends up with stating: "My life changed when I saw Dr. Oz talking good things about the berry supplement and thought to give it a try. I went ahead and got the free trial of Acai Berry supplement and colon cleanse. It complete changed my life."
Of course there is the mandatory affiliate link to a website which hosts the entire 60 mintues video while pitching the marvels of resveratrol! The company pitching its form of resveratrol is based in the UK and its terms and conditions are negative option billing.
But here is the 60 dollar question: Why does Oprah think that her reputation is being sullied by these devious flim flam marketers but CBS is just fine with allowing 60 Minutes to serve as a shill.
