Oprah Versus The Supplement Scammers

I knew this would come at some point.

We’ve talked about all the fake celebrity supplement endorsements that are being splashed across the Internet and in popular magazines and newspapers.  And because a recommendation from Oprah is second to only a blessing from the Pope, it’s no surprise that her face is attached to all kinds of miracle supplements including acai and resveratrol pills and juices.  I believe it all stemmed from an episode of her show where she and her resident “health expert” Dr. Oz touted the benefits of acai.

Supplement makers saw that, put their scheming heads together, and came to the conclusion that:

“Hey, if she likes acai, then she must love resveratrol!  And if she likes them in their natural form, she must love the convenience of having them processed and crammed into pills,  powders, and potions.  And hey, didn’t she lose alot of weight recently - again?  It must have been the acai!”

Guess Oprah has tired of seeing these supplement makers bless their products with her smiling face and newly toned body.  She and Dr. Oz have teamed up and dropped lawsuits on 40 different supplement companies.  Well, 40 different company names, anyway.  Truth is, many of these “free sample” supplement scams are run by multiple shell companies that roll up into one large holding company.  One that is usually located in the corporate meccas of Vietnam, Granada, or some other hard to reach business haven.

On her website, Oprah Winfrey has laid out her law:  “Consumers should be aware that neither Oprah Winfrey nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any açaí berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products…Neither Oprah nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any specific resveratrol product, company or online solicitation of such products. Any companies that misrepresent their affiliation are making false claims.”

“We know that thousands of people have been misled by these marketing practices,” said Marc Rachman, the attorney for Oz and Winfrey and companies that manage their images and trademarks, on Friday. “Oprah.com has received e-mail in the thousands from people who believe Oprah and Dr. Oz are affiliated with these products and have endorsed them when they haven’t.”

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.  But as most of us know, whether it’s a photo, an advertisement, or an email, once it’s out there on the Internet, it’s pretty much there forever.  So, I would expect to see some of these companies just disappear, leaving a trail of acai, resveratrol, and colon cleansing ads with Oprah’s smiling face scattered across the World Wide Web.

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Resveratrol Supplement Web Scam

Oh, this is just too good. A few days ago I posted about the acai berry supplement scams that have hit the Internet.  But this new one I found just takes the cake.

I want you to click on this link to a site called News13 Direct.  If you don’t feel comfortable going to an unfamiliar site, I’ve also included a screen shot of the site’s front page here.  Or you can just click on the smaller version you see in this post.

Did you look at the site, or the screen capture?  News13 Direct.  Hmm, appears to be the news site for a New York television station.  Look just to the right and under the photos of the anchors.  Yep, says New York, NY.  And look at the menu items.

News. Weather. Sports. Entertainment.

Sure looks like a local television station’s site.  News on the front page.  Sports, business, weather, etc all available by menu.  Of course, I don’t live in New York, but it looks like News13 is one of the city’s local news affiliates.

Let’s check out the headline story on the front page:

“Health Specialist Cathy Diaz Reports On Her Experience Using Resveratrol”

A news report written by the station’s health “specialist”.

The first few lines:

I’m a 35-year-old news veteran, who’s been covering health and wellness news for more than a decade. I admit I can sometimes be jaded and skeptical with an ‘I’ve seen it all attitude.’

When the news director John Beamer asked me to do an investigative report on the nutritional supplement Resveratrol when combined with Dermapril, I had no idea that I would end up as the ’star’ of my own story. But I did!

Apparently this is a news investigation into the nutritional supplement resveratrol.  Resveratrol is the stuff found in red wine that provides healthy antioxidants.  It’s also in the current class of wonder supplements, along with the acai berry, that are supposed to provide “miraculous” anti-aging, weight loss, and cancer prevention benefits.

At first glance, this story appears to be a welcome change from all the hype we see around resveratrol on the Internet.  An actual news investigation by a health “specialist”.  Now maybe we can get some facts around whether resveratrol really works and whether I should be spending my hard earned money on buying it in pill or powder form.

The story goes on, citing multiple “authoritative” sources who rave about the benefits of resveratrol.  The story also includes multiple links to a site ResveratrolUltra.com, where lo and behold, you can get a free trial of this miracle supplement!  How convenient.

Okay, let’s look closer.

Take a look at the top of the News13Direct site (or screen capture).  See there just above the header in really tiny print?  It says “Advertisement“.  But it’s really small and blends into the brown background.

So, our television news site with it’s authentic look and feel, including the requisite airbrushed photos of the on-air personalities, is really a fake.

There is no News13.  There is no health “specialist” Cathy Diaz.  And most importantly, there is no objective or investigatory evidence around what resveratrol is or what, if any, benefits it provides.

Furthermore, the site links back to ResveratrolUltra.com via what is known an affiliate link.  That means someone is making a commission everytime someone clicks on one of those links and actually buys into the ResveratrolUltra free trial program.

Do your homework people.  These guys are getting really sneaky.

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