The Jig Is Up
Be sure you're not hoodwinking your customers--or you might risk a nasty run-in with the FTC.
On January 22, 2004, the FTC announced a settlement withChicago-area entrepreneur Robert Barefoot and two of his companies,Deonna Enterprises Inc. and Karbo Enterprises Inc. The defendantswere ordered to stop touting the health benefits of Coral CalciumSupreme, a dietary supplement Barefoot developed and advertisedthrough TV infomercials. The companies may no longer claim thatcoral calcium can cure cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart diseaseand high blood pressure. They also can't say the supplement isabsorbed by the body better than other calcium supplements, or thata serving of Coral Calcium Supreme has as much calcium as twogallons of milk.
Why not? Because there isn't enough scientific evidence forany of these claims. Under federal law, you can't make medicalclaims in your ads without solid medical evidence to back them. TheLanham Act and the laws of all 50 states prohibit advertisementsthat might mislead people into buying products or services theywouldn't buy if they knew the truth. It's the job of theFTC and its counterpart in each state to enforce these laws byfollowing up on complaints from consumers or competitors, or bymonitoring particular industries for violations.
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