FTC continue to highlight misleading ad campaigns

Consumers who purchased the supplement between February 1, 2002, and May 22, 2006, will be able to put in claims forward for a refund from August 6 until September 15 this year. The action signals to dietary supplement marketers making false claims that, in the long run, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does not stand for such practices. The news follows recent FTC settlements involving four well-known weight loss pill marketers. The marketers of Xenadrine EFX, One A Day Weight Smart, Cortaslim and TrimSpa having to change their ad claims and pay the fines for both civil penalties and consumer redress. Falling in line with the FTC's jurisdiction, which relates only to advertising and marketing claims and not on the actual product itself, the commission will use the funds accumulated from the Xenadrine EFX settlement to pay the customer refunds. The refund amounts will depend on how many customer claims are put forward. Consumers who have used the supplement have the options of registering their refund request online or by phone, with the FTC running public notices in a variety of newspapers during the month of August - no doubt causing more harmful exposure for the company. The FTC claimed that the marketing material linked to the supplements caused consumers to postpone making the tougher choices and discouraged people from taking effective steps to losing weight. The marketers involved in the initial dispute advertised using claims of substantial and rapid weight loss based on ingredients including green tea extract (EGCG), caffeine, bitter orange (citrus aurantium) and hoodia gordonii, with the marketers of Xenadrine EFX required to pay between $8mn and $12.8mn. According to FTC chair Deborah Platt Majoras the action taken against the companies represents tiny portions of the "millions and hundreds of millions"​ made in profit by the infringing companies.