FTC challenges infomercial
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The Federal Trade Commission has charged marketers of Kevin Trudeau's book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About," with misrepresenting the book's contents in an infomercial. In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the FTC alleged Direct Marketing Concept, Inc., ITV Direct, Inc. and two individuals who control the firms promote the book's weight-loss protocol as "easy" to follow, when in reality consumers have found the book "describes a complex, grueling plan that requires severe dieting, daily injections of a prescription drug ... and lifelong dietary restrictions," the agency says. FTC sued the same four defendants for deceptive claims in 2004, and has filed a motion for summary judgment in that case. The agency also filed a brief in the U.S. District Court of Illinois in September asking for Trudeau to be found in contempt for violating a court order issued as part of a prior settlement (1"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 17, 2007, In Brief)...