Infomercial Knock-Off

My friends, I have grown excessively tired of misleading infomercials - infomercials based nearly exclusively on ‘dirty’ advertizing techniques and ‘user reviews’; infomercials fully devoid of factual information. Don’t get me wrong - you’re not required to give away your trade secret (if it’s a secret at all). You must, however, back your claims. Simple as that.

When you advertize your product, named Ab-Lounge, and claim it produces up to 70% greater muscle activation, radars go off. Why should I trust it produces up to 70% greater muscle activation than a tried and true exercise - which you then procede to illustrate with terrible form and range of motion?

Fact of the matter is, I shouldn’t. And neither should anyone else. Once more, I don’t want your trade secrets. I don’t care how your product is built all that much, other than for satisfying my own personal curiosity. Rather I want you to JUSTIFY your claims when these are the same claims which lead our regular american Joe and Jane to dial the phone and cough up a hard-earned dollar.

Product reviews don’t cut it.

Fancy graphs wich show how much better your product is than others don’t work.

Negative comments about other products don’t work.

Use of celebrities and ‘authorities’ don’t work.

All that is just that: all that. It is the definition of obsolete. And ‘all that’ won’t work until you give me one verifiable fact which justifies you claim. It doesn’t have to explain it to the point of handing out your trade secrets. It just has to justify why your device produces up to 70% more muscle activation than a crunch. Why is it?

My friends, you may visit their website. All you find is opinion reviews. Nothing other.
Go ahead. Try to submit your opinion.

Oops, there’s the sign - the one which reads:

"We do not post the following:

[…]
-Reviews that consist of only customer service complaints
-Reviews containing unverifiable email addresses
-Replies, critiques, analyzations, flames, or disputes of other reviews."

No replies, critiques, analyzations, or disputes of other reviews.

In other words, no replies which question the company’s claims - even if they are false (which most of us are dead certain they are).
No law prohibits such practice.

However, when information about a product is found exlusively in user opinion and infomercials - both of which strong, partial, and therefore very questionable sources of information - is the consumer NOT allowed objective information about the product he or she about to spend a sum of perhaps a several hundred dollars?
Is it acceptable to have our regular american Joe and Jane fall prey to misleading individuals (fall prey because, as human beings, they find themselves responding emotionally, rather than rationally), individuals whose only concern is your money, not your welfare?

No - not in my humble and individual opinion. And I am very confident mine matches that of many others.

Ephedra’s gone. It was harmful to America.
Performace enhancer Andro-based supplements are gone. They’re harmful to America.

Many respected, fact-based products pulled off the shelf because they’re harmful to America. Decision’s been made and I won’t take that fight. I say, however, if those are harmful, and standards are changed based on a few special cases, then standards must be changed for infomercial and all others who purposely mislead the public under the guise of fitness and health.

I contest the Ab-lounge does NOT produce 70% more muscle activation than a regular crunch; and I contest the company is knowingly misleading the public for money. This product only detracts from one’s finances and self-respect. Many others have great potential to hurt one’s health and fitness, rather than add to it.

There are liberties which allow them to do so, but I believe the industry needs to be regulated. If you make a claim which has not been verified or is unbased, a warning should be added to the product AND infomercial AND any company-sponsored information sources which reads ‘claims have not been verified’ or ‘information not based on scientific studies’.

It’s that simple - just give us one sentence which tells us your product was NOT evaluated and which tells us that if we purchase your product, we purchase it at our own risk.

Finally, I want something done. Contacting our Government representatives or raising awareness through the media are good ways, but I’m sure some of you have looked into this issue already. If you have a streamlined plan of what one can do, or if you have information about why it can’t be done, let us others know.

I’m fuckin tired of bloodsuckers. Infomercials fall in the category of spammers - all they want is your money and are willing to not simply annoy you, but hurt your welfare, in order to get it.

Wow…you are mad! However in a free market society some business’s walk a fine line, such as the infomericals you describe.

I suggest that people save their time and not call or notify anyone. Just remember: “Caveat Emptor”

adfkarjadsguopweam980ong[reihas bb,.a,sfdglin’

Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that mess and my head hit the keyboard.

Ay, Comrade. Simply buy the Ab Pavelizer. It is really is different and has no infomercial.

[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:
adfkarjadsguopweam980ong[reihas bb,.a,sfdglin’

Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that mess and my head hit the keyboard.[/quote]

Sure you did - it wasn’t geared towards ‘special’ individuals.

When I want to talk to you I’ll talk in moron. Developed posts are reserved for those with a developed brain.

[quote]diesel25 wrote:
IL Cazzo wrote:
adfkarjadsguopweam980ong[reihas bb,.a,sfdglin’

Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that mess and my head hit the keyboard.

Sure you did - it wasn’t geared towards ‘special’ individuals.

When I want to talk to you I’ll talk in moron. Developed posts are reserved for those with a developed brain. [/quote]

You are correct…you are the first person to figure out that exercise gadgets sold on infomercials are garbage. The ablounge doesn’t work? HOLY FUCKIN SHIT. I just shat myself. You should write for T-mag or the NY Times or the WSJ or something man, GET THE WORD OUT.

[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:
diesel25 wrote:
IL Cazzo wrote:
adfkarjadsguopweam980ong[reihas bb,.a,sfdglin’

Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that mess and my head hit the keyboard.

Sure you did - it wasn’t geared towards ‘special’ individuals.

When I want to talk to you I’ll talk in moron. Developed posts are reserved for those with a developed brain.

You are correct…you are the first person to figure out that exercise gadgets sold on infomercials are garbage. The ablounge doesn’t work? HOLY FUCKIN SHIT. I just shat myself. You should write for T-mag or the NY Times or the WSJ or something man, GET THE WORD OUT.

[/quote]

You must need to get laid, or you’re just an asshole. Your first post was unneccessary, did you honestly expect him not to take offense to it? So what if you weren’t interested, no one made you read it.

Okay, but…

[quote]Ephedra’s gone. It was harmful to America.
Performace enhancer Andro-based supplements are gone. They’re harmful to America.[/quote]

This comment makes me lose a lot more sleep than your paranoia concerning infomercials.

[quote]elars21 wrote:
IL Cazzo wrote:
diesel25 wrote:
IL Cazzo wrote:
adfkarjadsguopweam980ong[reihas bb,.a,sfdglin’

Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that mess and my head hit the keyboard.

Sure you did - it wasn’t geared towards ‘special’ individuals.

When I want to talk to you I’ll talk in moron. Developed posts are reserved for those with a developed brain.

You are correct…you are the first person to figure out that exercise gadgets sold on infomercials are garbage. The ablounge doesn’t work? HOLY FUCKIN SHIT. I just shat myself. You should write for T-mag or the NY Times or the WSJ or something man, GET THE WORD OUT.

You must need to get laid, or you’re just an asshole. Your first post was unneccessary, did you honestly expect him not to take offense to it? So what if you weren’t interested, no one made you read it.[/quote]

that’s just the way the il caz is. imagine he was trying to be funny (both posts actually quite were) and it’ll be all good.

[quote]wufwugy wrote:
elars21 wrote:
IL Cazzo wrote:
diesel25 wrote:
IL Cazzo wrote:
adfkarjadsguopweam980ong[reihas bb,.a,sfdglin’

Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that mess and my head hit the keyboard.

Sure you did - it wasn’t geared towards ‘special’ individuals.

When I want to talk to you I’ll talk in moron. Developed posts are reserved for those with a developed brain.

You are correct…you are the first person to figure out that exercise gadgets sold on infomercials are garbage. The ablounge doesn’t work? HOLY FUCKIN SHIT. I just shat myself. You should write for T-mag or the NY Times or the WSJ or something man, GET THE WORD OUT.

You must need to get laid, or you’re just an asshole. Your first post was unneccessary, did you honestly expect him not to take offense to it? So what if you weren’t interested, no one made you read it.

that’s just the way the il caz is. imagine he was trying to be funny (both posts actually quite were) and it’ll be all good.[/quote]

I could recognize that a little. I wasn’t wholely serious either, it’s just that the guy looked like he put a lot of effort into his post, and to just shit on him like that’s a little harsh.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Okay, but…

Ephedra’s gone. It was harmful to America.
Performace enhancer Andro-based supplements are gone. They’re harmful to America.

This comment makes me lose a lot more sleep than your paranoia concerning infomercials.
[/quote]

I thought he was being sarcastic when he said they were harmful to America. If he was serious I have no idea what to make of it.

It sounds like you bought one of those doo-hickeys, right? Well, If you thought that laying back in a lounge like contraption and exerting minimal effort for maximum gains was the way to a stronger sexier you, then you are exactly what they were looking for.

A lot of companies make outrageous claims. You can usualy spot them when they say something like- Product X is 600% more effective than other brands. Other brands of what? There is no actual comparison. There appears to be, but realy there is not.
Garnier Fructise will make your hair five times stronger. Stronger than what?

Anyhow- If you want to complain, file a report with the Federal Trade Commision. If they get enough reports to warrant an investigation, they will check it out and take appropriate action.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Okay, but…

Ephedra’s gone. It was harmful to America.
Performace enhancer Andro-based supplements are gone. They’re harmful to America.

This comment makes me lose a lot more sleep than your paranoia concerning infomercials.
[/quote]

Prohormones and ephedra are only harmful to braindead individuals - and even then you have to abuse them very stupidly.

I was using the ban on the above to strenghen my point - and clearly I should’ve used quote marks.

[quote]mindeffer01 wrote:

A lot of companies make outrageous claims. You can usualy spot them when they say something like- Product X is 600% more effective than other brands. Other brands of what? There is no actual comparison. There appears to be, but realy there is not.
Garnier Fructise will make your hair five times stronger. Stronger than what?

[/quote]

OK. This I CAN vouch for. Garnier does make a difference on my hair as opposed to the cheap stuff. OH GOSH! I’m being to metro, aren’t I?

But I find them entertaining! Don’t stop them! It’s my favourite thing to watch when I’ve nothing better to do and it’s right before bedtime.

Plus, now here in Spain, they actually import all of the informercials and dub them. So you can see an obviously Midwestern housewife stating that she lost 5 cm and 2 kgs and can still enjoy tortilla and her cafe-con-leche in the morning. The best part is when they try to use a blatantly American thing and convince it’s local. My favourite being a football player who described himself as enjoying soccer every weekend.