FTC wants TV, newspapers to reject deceptive diet advertising

WASHINGTON -- The government is urging television, newspapers and magazines to stop carrying deceptive advertising with promises like "eat all you want and lose weight" or "lose weight while you sleep."

"Reputable media should be embarrassed by some of the ads that run," Howard Beales, director of the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection bureau, said Wednesday. "The claims are so ridiculous."

Beales said he believes that publishers and cable TV executives want to cooperate, but if they don't, regulators could consider legal action.

The FTC has brought 97 lawsuits since 1990 against companies it accused of marketing phony weight-loss products, winning $50 million in restitution to consumers and other financial remedies. The law also prohibits disseminating false ads, Beales said, suggesting provision could be used against the media should the FTC decide it was necessary.

"We don't think there is a constitutional impediment to trying to stop false advertising, whatever it takes to do that," he said.

FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris has been meeting with media industry leaders to encourage self-regulation, saying that law enforcement can't keep up with the growing number of phony weight-loss schemes -- many run by people outside the U.S. or hiding behind aliases or middlemen.

The FTC plans to come up with a short list of weight-loss claims that clearly don't stand up to scientific scrutiny, in hopes that media executives will ban ads and infomercials that make those promises.