The phrase that betrays: what word(s) in an ad tell you that it's fraudulent?

[Bossy Monkey]

(Or at least highly suspicious)

[PBS Poll-435]

1. 'Is thought to work...'

Any Fibromyalgia drug.

[Bossy Monkey]

5. Added n/t

[TZ]

26. actually many legitimate scientific studies have to use that phrase

Anti-Depressants are notorious for this. They have been established to work and work well for many populations of people. What is not known is exactly HOW the neurotransmitters are effected.
In fact that phrase is used with my own MAYO PROSCRIBED medication of interferon. We know what it does (cuts down my platelets and holds the disease in check) but we don't know exactly HOW it works.
As for Fibro drugs, there is oodles of literature and anecdoctal evidence on them being effective.
Honestly, this thread illustrates to me how little people know scientifically....

[PBS Poll-435]

32. I was not criticizing the validity of the phrase

I just find it annoying.


I can just imagine an entire subsection of the population yelling at the TV after a Lyrica commercial, "They should KNOW how it works."



:P

[Crazy Dave]

2. A former co-worker of mine was asked to be in a diet pill test group

The doctors told him to go on a diet, exercise and take "these pills".

Knowing diet and exercise alone will help you lose weight anyways he asked, "what do the pills do?", their reply, "they help you lose weight".

And he said it went back and forth with him explaining if he went on a strict diet and exercised an hour a day alone he would lose weight so WTF do the pills do? Their final answer was, "that's why we're running these tests".

[RoadRage]

21. "Results not Typical"

To me that means you plucked out the 1 or 2 examples that are not normal.. and you're advertising them as though they are. FRAUD!

[rurallib]

3. The guy in the lab coat who is touted as a "doctor"

ya see one of those and you know the product is bogus.

[Bossy Monkey]

9. Added as best I could n/t

[Pool Hall Ace]

4. The word "pure"

Nothing is pure, as far as I'm concerned. :shrug:

[Bossy Monkey]

6. Added n/t

[Richardo]

7. "Nutritional supplement"

[Bossy Monkey]

12. Added n/t

[woo me with science]

8. "homeopathic," "all natural," "genuine simulated," "faux," nt

[woo me with science]

11. "Because of enormous demand, strictly limited to five per customer." nt

[petronius]

10. "These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA"

:)

[woo me with science]

14. Good one. nt

[woo me with science]

13. "Call within the next 20 minutes." nt

[rurallib]

16. o yeah - that fake urgency

I remember one that stated 'people whose last name start with A to L can call only today" I think I first heard it 2 years ago and they are still running the same thing. No idea what they are selling.

[HopeHoops]

15. My favorite: "(our product) contains almost MORE pain reliever than the leading brand"

No shit. I about passed beer through my nose when I heard that. That was from an ad in the early 80's. The speaker mumbled the word "almost" and nearly shouted "MORE".

Now "almost more" can only mean two things - the same as, or slightly less. That's obviously not what they intended to convey.

[woo me with science]

18. Excellent catch. I saw a weight loss commercial: "Participants lost up to an average of X lbs. "

UP TO an average of??????

[HopeHoops]

22. Wow. That's even better because IT DOESN"T MEAN ANYTHING!

:wtf:

[pulledpork]

17. Lifetime Guarantee

Whose lifetime? Mine or the company's?

[MiddleFingerMom]

19. "30 Helens agree..."

.
.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUWcyB485N4
.
.
.

[tigereye]

20. gold?

:rofl:

[suninvited]

23. not sold in any stores

only available through this phone number and if you call in the next fifteen minutes.

[TZ]

24. Ummm FDA actually regulates the use of the term "clinical trial"

WHEN that appears in an ad its actually legit. You cannot use that term loosely or without actually have done them. Again, I work with clinical trials every day, so you know, I actually am familiar with the FDA and what is allowable and what is not.
What is complete and utter bullshit is anything that claims to "cure" something. Fortunately the FDA has been cracking down on shit like that. But there are actually things that can and cannot be said in advertisements. Clinical trials on OTC remedies are common and scientifically valid generally. Now whether these trials are large enough to actually give good peer reviewed data on what they are claiming is true, thats another story.

[we can do it]

25. Helps

[woo me with science]

27. "Before using our product, these people could barely stand up."

:rofl:

[givemebackmycountry]

28. Any of these send up red flags-

DELUXE!
EXECUTIVE!
EXCLUSIVE!
LUXURY!
LIMITED TIME!
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT!

and

YOUR GOING TO LOVE MY NUTS!

[MisterP]

29. Truth

Allstate, Tylenol, Pioneer Fund

[NV Whino]

30. NEW IMPROVED!

Yes, with all caps and a bang.

[yawnmaster]

31. ...only the first 100 orders receive a free... eom