The FDA is investigating five deaths linked to the popular energy drinks manufactured by Monster. The investigation is in response to a lawsuit filed by the parents of a 14 year old girl who died of a heart attack after drinking 2 cans of Monster energy drinks, and four other deaths linked to Monster drinks.
Category Archives: Deceptive Marketing
Avon Anti-Aging “Anew” Creams
The Food and Drug Administration recently warned Avon that it must stop advertising its Anew skin care products using language that makes them sound like they have medical effects. In a letter to Avon dated October 5, 2012, the FDA objected to anti-aging claims made about Avon’s Anew Clinical Advanced Wrinkle Corrector, Anew Reversalist Night… Continue Reading
Lab Finds Arctic Zero Has Many More Calories Than Advertised
Americans have a sweet tooth, and nothing is better at the end of a meal than a bowl of tasty ice cream. Unfortunately, many consumers also have to be concerned about their calorie intake, and there are few foods that have more fat and calories than ice cream. This conundrum creates an opportunity for marketers… Continue Reading
Over-The-Counter Pain Pills’ Early Expiration Dates
Are Pfizer, Bayer, and Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Advil, Aspirin, and Tylenol respectively, misleadingly inducing consumers to throw away medicines by an expiration date, despite the fact that the manufacturers know the products are good long after the dates printed on the products’ packaging? A lawsuit filed in St. Louis, Missouri, alleges that… Continue Reading
Weight Loss And Immune System Supplements Often Make False Claims
According to a new study on weight loss and immune system supplement, the Department of Health and Human Services reports that approximately 20% of 127 different supplements it investigated made false and illegal claims to cure or treat diseases. According to the findings, manufacturers often do not have actual scientific evidence to back their purported… Continue Reading
Time Warner Cable To Customers: “Eat it.”
As if there weren’t enough reasons to feel something especially negative toward Time Warner Cable, now this: Time Warner Cable recently mailed a notice to its customers that they will now be assessed a $3.95 monthly fee for renting the very same modem that is already sitting in their living room. Time Warner Cable customers… Continue Reading
Isotonix And Kirkland May Be Shortchanging Your B Vitamin
B vitamins are crucial for the proper functioning of the human body. B vitamins are essential in turning food into energy, and there is some proof that they reduce homocysteine levels, which are associated with heart disease. Our bodies don’t make B vitamins, so they have to come from diet or supplements. Unfortunately, according to… Continue Reading
Mayo Clinic: Glucosamine Does Not Rebuild Cartilage
As we’ve written about extensively, glucosamine supplements don’t always work as advertised. While studies have shown that glucosamine doesn’t rebuild cartilage, a trip to the local drugstore reveals a host of manufacturers and retailers who continue to make this claim.
Replacement Windows May Not Be As Energy Efficient As Advertised
In these days of soaring energy costs, many people are looking to save money by replacing windows in their home with more energy-efficient windows. However, many manufacturers of replacement windows make claims about energy savings that are not substantiated or backed by scientific evidence.
Discover Bank Will Rebate Misleading Fees
Discover Bank has agreed to pay $14 million in fines and to rebate an additional $200 million to more than 3.5 million consumers. According to the FDIC and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who brought the action, Discover’s call-center employees enrolled consumers in identity theft protection, payment protection and credit tracking programs without their consent and… Continue Reading
Maybelline Super Stay Might Not Last The Day
Maybelline may be making misleading statements about its “Super Stay” lip gloss and lipstick products by representing that the products last for 10 and 14 hours respectively. Maybelline advertises its Super Stay 10hr Stain Gloss as the “first 10hr Stain Gloss” and its Super Stay 14hr Lipstick as lipstick with “super rich color that lasts… Continue Reading
Beware Of Retoxor
A “male enhancement” product named Retoxor has been widely advertised on the Internet and on radio. This is a product that claims that it will enhance the size of a man’s genitalia, and some advertisements go so far as to state that the product will be shipped with a “free measuring tool.” One radio advertisement… Continue Reading
Wal-Mart’s Glucosamine Supplements Are Expensive And Misleading
As we’ve written about extensively, advertisements touting glucosamine-based supplements purported ability to “regrow” cartilage are deceptive and misleading. As it turns out, the nation’s biggest retailer appears to have joined the list of companies who have turned a blind eye to the fact that expensive glucosamine-based supplements don’t work as advertised. Wal-Mart’s own glucosamine chondroitin… Continue Reading
Court Enters $478 Million Judgment For Infomercial Scam
In a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. District Court in California has ordered the marketers of “John Beck’s Free & Clear Real Estate System,” “John Alexander’s Real Estate Riches in 14 Days System,” and Jeff Paul’s Shortcuts to Internet Millions System,” to pay a record $478 million for deceiving close to… Continue Reading
Your HDTV May Be Smaller Than Advertised
One of the greatest inventions in the realm of consumer entertainment is the High Definition Television. Once you have seen a football game or your favorite movie in high definition, it is hard to go back to regular TV. One of the best parts of the new, high definition TVs is that they are flat… Continue Reading
Nokia Admits Faking Promos For Its Lumina 920 Smartphone
This week it’s difficult to turn on the radio or television without hearing about the launch of Apple’s new iPhone 5 which, it seems may be about to take over the world. Thus, it is not surprising that Apple’s competitors in the smartphone market are under pressure to unveil ever newer, better devises to compete… Continue Reading
Beware Of Work-From-Home Scams
Working from home on a part-time basis while making thousands of dollars a month seems like a dream come true. However, in many instances, these employment opportunities are not legitimate and end up costing people more money than they make. It’s difficult to determine which deals are legitimate and which are not, but John Rossheim,… Continue Reading
Is Verizon FIOS Really Significantly Faster Than Cable?
Is Verizon FIOS really significantly faster than cable? According to the National Advertising Division (“NAD”): no. The NAD is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus as the investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. In a recent challenge to certain of Verizon’s advertising claims brought by the cable provider Comcast Communications,… Continue Reading
Lancome Makes Potentially Deceptive Gene And Stem Cell Claims
Lancome, one of the leading manufacturers and marketers of cosmetics, has run into some trouble with the FDA over its potentially misleading health claims promoting its Génifique, Absolue and Rénergie line of products. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a company may not promote a product as a drug without prior approval from… Continue Reading
Fish Oil Supplements Don’t Work
While millions of Americans take expensive fish oil supplements every day as a way to avoid heart disease and stroke, a recent study has found that omega-3 fatty acids have no effect at all. Since people who eat a lot of fish have been found to have a lower incidence of heart disease, it was… Continue Reading
Walgreens Misleads Consumers About The Power Of Vitamin B
In an attempt to sell vitamin B supplements, Walgreens implies in a recent commercial that B vitamins will help you increase your energy. In fact, current research does not support this claim. Vitamin B plays a significant role in energy metabolism because it helps our bodies turn food into energy. However, taking Vitamin B in… Continue Reading
LAZ Parking May Be Improperly Charging For Free Weekends
Anyone who works in the New York City or Southern Westchester County and takes the Metro North to work knows all too well how important it is too find a parking space at the train station. Nothing is more aggravating than finding the parking lot full when it is time to go to work. Nothing,… Continue Reading
Microsoft Wants You To Give Up Your Class Action Rights
Following up on an early post in which we reported that Ebay was attempting to get its customers to give up their rights to pursue their claims in court and/or through the class action mechanism, unfortunately we can now report that Microsoft is attempting to follow in Ebay’s footsteps. If you are a user of… Continue Reading
Is Organic Food Really More Healthful?
With the school year beginning parents across the country are pondering what to pack in their little ones’ lunch boxes. Many will turn to organic meats and vegetables in the hope of providing a more nutritious lunch. But are organic foods really more healthful than their conventional counterparts? A recent study by Stanford University scientists… Continue Reading