Get Ripped… Off
When we look back on the history of the world of flogs and flogvertising, we probably won’t know which straw broke the camels back. The straws in this case are mainstream news articles but more so legal action against those in the ecosystem involving primarily first-person written / expose like stories for health and beauty products where the call to action is for a user to begin a trial for a particular product. In this battle between certain marketers looking to cash in on a advertising trend and an ever growing list of those who oppose it, a recent article in Wired magazine was another shot across the bow of the flogosphere. The article garnered a lively debate on WickedFire as it was the first to mention players in our industry by name. It has the CEO of one of the continuity product manufacturers publicly calling out Azoogle Ads parent, Epic Advertising, using words like "duped" and mentioning how they were lead down the "primrose path", blaming them for sites like Karen’s Teeth (shown in the article). In turn, Epic Advertising suggests that other networks are to blame, with the Wired author just standing out of the way but clearly enjoying the muckraking evidenced by his final jab, linking to Bing query whose results contain the type of sites that the company was just quoted as saying they combat.
Dazzle verus Epic. Epic versus others. Toss in an inquiry by the Utah consumer protection bureau inquiry into Dazzle and the marketers plus a complaint sent to the Oklahoma attorney general, and we have the setting for the beginning of something big. Let’s not forget about the Oprah / Oz lawsuit or the concern by many over the FTC’s updated guidelines. In all of this though, what does Karen think, "Karen recently discovered a clever way of combining two different teeth whitening product trials from two different companies…to get one full ‘super’ whitening." Despite the troubles with one of her former products, she seems undeterred to spread her story of savings and value. In fact when looking up the definition for "primrose path" (a term used by the far more literate than Dazzle CEO Roger LeFevre) we saw one of Karen’s ads, except instead of going to her site, she decides to showcase the story of another such bargain hunting mom, Cathy. That’s too bad really, because we really liked Kathy’s original page, given that the title began with a the double entendre, "Exploiting the Recession." We know who is exploiting the recession, don’t we.
Not to be outdone by teeth whitening, and something not mentioned in the Wired article, acai is still going strong, this time in a new iteration – the male targeted ads. We first saw one a few months ago on Facebook with an ad offering the secrets to the 300 diet along with another intimating how Brad Pitt might have gotten his "Fight Club" physique. That’s right, acai. Except this time, it’s not paired with a colon cleanse but a product meant to help you bulk up, such as Nitric Oxide Boost or Bulk Up. Sweetening the pot, those fighting it out in the "get ripped" genre of fake blogs have seemingly thrown all common sense out the window and decided that compliance rules must not apply to them. Two of our favorites are "Garvey’s Hollywood Workout" and "Steve’s Hollywood Workout." Read the term "workout" loosely. As Garvey says (no emphasis added), "I just couldn’t understand how other people where getting so ripped and I basically stayed the same. I had NO IDEA that the products that people where using to get seriously ripped are available for FREE, they are completely legal, and easy for anybody to use." Wow. Really?
Even better than the text on Garvey’s site are the photos. I give the site owner some credit for using the same person in the before and after, but the best part is the supposed transformation that takes place over four weeks. Somehow it includes not only getting ripped but thousands of dollars in additional tattoos. Apparently the money saved by no longer buying expensive products paid for the ink. Steve’s site is not much better. His offers a three week plan and has enough inconsistencies on the site to make you think it’s almost a parody. Both Steve and Garvey would probably claim that they will be changing their sites for the December 1 date that the new FTC guidelines go into effect, but there is one thing they forget. Their sites are not in compliance now. Changing them for December 1 doesn’t make what is happening right now any better. It’s like someone talking about medicinal marijuana rules when they are selling crack cocaine.
Michael Mallow, an attorney from Loeb & Loeb who has handled many internet advertising related issues for clients who need compliance counsel, said it best. He quipped, "I tell my clients all the time. It’s not what you make but what you keep." While legal costs have been and continue to be a greater cost of doing business, it’s one thing to have them be a cost of doing business and another to think of it as a remedy for not acting compliant in the first place. In the past and even today, companies have operated with the belief that they could stash away enough money so that when it’s time to pay the fines, they will have plenty left over. That’s a dangerous attitude and one that will quickly backfire. in the meantime, those about to copy Garvey and Steve, show some creativity and change it up a little.
