NAD Refers Advertising For ‘Slim Force 7’ To US, Canadian Regulatory Agencies

New York, New York – August 10, 2009 – The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has referred advertising for the SlimForce 7 dietary supplement to U.S. and Canadian regulatory agencies for further review, after the company did not respond to an NAD inquiry.

As a part of its ongoing monitoring program and in conjunction with NAD’s initiative with the Council for Responsible Nutrition to expand NAD’s review of advertising claims for dietary supplements, NAD – the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum – reviewed print advertising for SlimForce 7. Claims at issue included:

• “SlimForce 7 is a weight loss product that has been the subject of many studies and research.  Recent studies have shown that the 6 fruits and the algae contained in it, combined together, are able to stop fats from depositing and help to eliminate them daily.  This results in the most rapid weight loss ever seen in a completely natural product.”
• “It is a treatment aimed at all those who can’t lose weight.”
• “… in the first 3 weeks it’s possible to lose up to 2 pounds a day, without any effort.”
• “After 10 days I had lost 20 pounds.”
• “11 pounds less after just a week”
• “40 lbs less in a month”
• “You can lose up to 1 pound in 8 hours”
• “You just need to take 1 capsule a day at breakfast to lose as many pounds as you want.”
• “This treatment is made up of 6 fruits and 1 algae.  Each ingredient has a specific property and reacts to a different part of the body.  All the ingredients come from ancient natural medicine.”
• “You just don’t lose weight, your whole metabolism is gradually modified.”

NAD was unable to contact the advertiser, which maintains only an 800 number and Website for ordering the product. NAD attempted to contact the advertiser at its postal address in Ontario, Canada, but did not receive a response.

NAD noted that it was particularly troubled by the advertiser’s failure to respond because the challenged print advertising appeared as a full-color, two-page spread in TV Guide and makes powerful weight-loss claims, including claims that have been found by the Federal Trade Commission to lack scientific support.

The FTC’s “Red Flag: Bogus Weight Loss Claims” guide cites several weight-loss claims which are considered “scientifically unachievable,” including claims that a product will cause weight loss of two pounds or more a week for one month or more without dieting or exercise, cause substantial weight loss regardless of what or how much a consumer eats and safely enable consumers to lose more than three pounds a week for more than four weeks.  NAD noted that many of the claims made for SlimForce 7 go beyond the Red Flag claims cited by the FTC.

Given the advertiser’s failure to respond, NAD will refer the matter to the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and also to the Competition Bureau of Canada (where the advertiser appears to be based), for further review.