Marketers of Unproven Weight-Loss Products Ordered to Pay Nearly $2 Million
A federal district court has ordered the marketers of an herbal tea and a diet patch to pay nearly $2 million to the Federal Trade Commission for making deceptive claims that both products would allow users to lose weight quickly without diet or exercise.
For nearly two years before the FTC complaint was filed, Bronson Partners, LLC and its officer, Martin Howard, marketed Chinese Diet Tea, telling consumers they could lose as much as six pounds a week by drinking one cup of the green tea after each meal to “neutralize the absorption of fattening foods.” Advertising in national magazines such as USA Weekend and Clipper Magazine, the marketers charged $24.95 plus shipping and handling for a month’s supply.
Also during this time, the marketers sold the Bio-Slim Patch, a diet patch that contained extracts from the fucus, garcinia, and guarana plants. Instructing consumers to wear the patches 24 hours a day for at least three months, the marketers claimed that “repulsive, excess ugly fatty tissue will disappear at a spectacular rate due to the combination and synergy of these three natural ingredients.” The marketers advertised the patch in national magazines and in a company catalog, and consumers paid $24.95 plus shipping and handling for a month’s supply.
via Marketers of Unproven Weight-Loss Products Ordered to Pay Nearly $2 Million.
Google Gets 67.3% of All Searches in December | Search Engine Journal
Here we go, latest search market statistics released by Nielsen indicates that Google again rules the search market in December. Google gets 67.3% of all the 9.9 billion searches made last December. That’s actually 6.7 billion shares conducted on Google’s search engine.
via Google Gets 67.3% of All Searches in December | Search Engine Journal.
Website Tackles the Issue of Performance Anxiety at the Florist’s Shop -
DANBY, Vt., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ — With Valentine’s Day approaching, the webmasters at the playfully irreverent guys-and-flowers site www.savedbythebud.com felt it time to address the underreported issue that many men feel uncomfortable buying flowers. Not “buying tampons for her embarrassing,” according to the site, but more “‘buying a box of Cap’n Crunch embarrassing,’ when it’s fairly obvious from the rest of your purchase that you don’t have kids.” That’s why they’ve created a new section for 2010 called “You Need Professional Help.”
Florida man guilty in Marietta telemarketing scam – Atlanta Business Chronicle:
A Florida man pleaded guilty on Monday to running a telemarketing scam in metro Atlanta that took hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreigners.
John A. Reece, 57, of St. Augustine, Fla., defrauded dozens into investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent companies.
Along with a co-defendant Patrick Soltis, who has already pleaded guilty, Reece lied to investors in 2002 to entice them to invest in shell company Wolf & Soltis Holdings LLC. Through telemarketers they hired to sell the stock in unsolicited transactions, the defendants falsely claimed Wolf & Soltis had substantial business operations and plans to expand in a number of areas. In reality, the company was bogus, had no operations, assets, revenues, or even employees, other than the hired telemarketers.
via Florida man guilty in Marietta telemarketing scam – Atlanta Business Chronicle:.
Harland Clarke Expands Direct and Digital Marketing Offerings
Harland Clarke Corp. has announced two recent acquisitions that will immediately broaden its portfolio of direct and digital marketing services. In December, Harland Clarke acquired Protocol Integrated Marketing Services (IMS), the full-service direct marketing division of Protocol Global Solutions, as well as SubscriberMail, the award-winning Email Service Provider (ESP) and technology firm.
Protocol IMS adds enhanced database marketing, inbound and outbound
via Harland Clarke Expands Direct and Digital Marketing Offerings.
B2B telemarketing services with B2C capabilities, and a successful track record in multiple industries to Harland Clarke’s strong analytics, creative and production capabilities. SubscriberMail brings proven on-demand email marketing solutions, in addition to a patented technology platform recognized and used by leading organizations across multiple industries.
