Broadcast

摘要

The FTC wants broadcasters to screen out advertising for fraudulent diet and weight-loss products,rnusing a list of seven claims commonly made in such ads that “can’t be true,” said an agency news release.rnAds for “bogus” products do “incalculable damage to the reputation for accuracy that broadcasters andrnpublishers work hard to earn,” said an FTC letter to broadcasters (http://1.usa.gov/1ddzoEn) announcingrnthe new campaign, called “Gut Check.” The list of tell-tale signs that should flag a fraudulent ad forrnbroadcast ad sales teams includes claims that a product causes substantial weight loss “no matter what orrnhow much the consumer eats,” or by rubbing a product into skin, or “causes permanent weight loss evenrnafter the consumer stops using product.” The FTC takes law enforcement action against fraudulent productrnsellers after such ads run, but “the most effective front-line defense is when media outlets have an effectivernin-house clearance program that screens out clearly deceptive diet ads,” said the letter to broadcasters.rnIt urged broadcasters to point their ad sales teams to an online tutorial that teaches users how to spotrnweight-loss fraud (http://1.usa.gov/1adifII). The campaign also includes an FTC-created website for arnfake weight-loss product called “FatFoe” (http://bit.ly/1htHpa1). “When consumers try to order FatFoe,rnthey learn the ad is a warning from the FTC about diet rip-offs,” said the FTC in the release.