OK, Americans are probably not any more ignorant than people of other countries. But, can you argue that we have a deficiency in the ability to think critically?
Let's take the "alternative medicine" product Enzyte, of "natural male enhancement, for example. This is a "nutraceutical" sold by Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals.
How could anyone possibly fall for the annoyingly, stupid "Smiling Bob" commercials is beyond me. Yes, I know, "a fool is born every minute", "a fool and his money is soon parted (or elected)" and "never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
Makers of Enzyte made some remarkable claims such as:
- “The first all-natural male enhancement program that adds one to three inches to your size in just eight months or get double your money back”
- “100% Safe with a 98.3% Success Rate”
- “…your erectile chambers, as well as your penis, will enlarge up to 41%”
With absolutely NO scientific evidence to back up their claims. Yet the company was allowed to advertise and sell this product on TV for years knowing that they would make millions scamming people [the company made $100 million dollars selling enzyte in 2003 and had a sales force of 800 persons to handle the orders]. How can a company get away with such a scam? Easy, thanks to the "Dietary Health and Education Act of 1994". There is no need for a dietary supplement to be proven effective or even safe in some instances.
Now a Class Action Suit will likely soon be settled to the tune of only $4.7 million dollars. The company walks away with hundred of millions of dollars from scaming people that cannot think critically.
2 comments:
to be honest if the person buying the stuff doesn't think about it seriously & do a bit of research to see if it works then they deserve to loose the money, and obviously the company is smart enough to figure that out so why don't they deserve the money? isn't that sorta like survival of the fittest?
I don't mind fools being parted from their money as long as it doesn't affect our economy or me personally. But I do mind that companies make false claims in order to obtain the money from the fool. And, I do mind that our government makes it almost legal for them to get away with it. It's also clear that our country could be quite a bit stronger in many ways if people were taught to think a bit more critically.
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