Doesn't Want You to Know About
October 17, 2008
Infomercial mavin Kevin Trudeau has been found in contempt of a federal court order for the second time in the past four years. Previously he was banned for life from ever producing another infomercial, except for "information" products. This time he is facing a $5 million fine and 3-year ban from producing any type of infomercial.
This latest action by the FTC is due to Trudeau's book "The Wate Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" (I have to spell this wrong intentionally since "Wate Loss" spelled correctly is a huge red flag for spam catchers). In his infomercials Trudeau claimed that the system described in his book was very easy to do and allows users to eat whatever they want. The FTC ruled that his plan was actually very complicated that not only required intensive and restrictive lifelong dieting, but also involved regular colonics and daily injections of a certain hormone (which I also can't name lest your spam catcher will most certainly flag this email - this really sucks that I have to do this, doesn't it?), a prescription drug that costs about $300 per injection.
In 2004 the FTC charged that he had falsely claimed that his Coral Calcium product could cure cancer and other diseases. According to the FTC, the resulting order "broadly bans him from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials that advertise any type of product, service, or program to the public, except for truthful infomercials for informational publications."
The "truthful" part was what tripped him up this time.
In November 2007, the court found that Trudeau was in violation of this previous order and was found in contempt of court.
Trudeau is appealing the original 2007 order and most recent contempt ruling.
To view the original 2004 charge, go here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/01/barefoot.shtm
To view the 2004 FTC order, go here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/09/trudeaucoral.shtm
To view the original 2007 charge, go here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/09/trudeau.shtm
To view the most recent ban order, go here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/trudeau.shtm
In the past Trudeau has been charged with several legal actions, one involving jail time for credit card fraud, and has been cited by the FTC for several other deceptive infomercials. He was also investigated on a state level for actions related to his involvement with the now defunct network marketing company Nutrition for Life.
Len Clements
Founder & CEO
MarketWave, Inc.
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