RonRyan85

Last night on ABC's TV program 20/20 (1/20/2006) they ran a
story on the guy named KEVIN TRUDEAU and it made me remember
seeing his TV infomercial and sending off for his book :"Natural
health Cures"-(What They Don't Want You to Know.) 20/20 said
Trudeau had served time in prison for selling a bogus MEMORY
scam and other hoaxes and he had agreed to stop the infomercials
and had paid a fine by giving the government one of his million
dollar homes he owned. I had purchased his book on Natural health Cures and read in it that he was forbidden to tell any real or specific cures by the Government as he was not a doctor
or anyone connected with Health cures. THE BOOK WAS FULL OF
USELESS INFORMATION! I threw the book into the trash($20.) and cancelled the newsletter ($75. a year). I Emailed the local ABC
station here in our town and asked them to do another story on
Con-artist KEVIN TRUDEAU. I also contacted the BBB but as I do
not know what city Trudeau is operating out of my email did not
seem to go anywhere. THE BOTTOM LINE IS: DO NOT SEND KEVIN
TRUDEAU ANY MONEY! YOU WILL REGRET IT!

Ustwo

Ummm did you really think that there was a book of cures that 'doctors didn't want you to know about' that would be sold only from a TV offer for $20?

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CSflim

All "alternative" medicine peddlars should be thrown into jail for fraud unless they can verify their outrageous claims by coming up with evidence from controlled experiments from an impartial third party.

I mean could you just IMAGINE the lawsuits that would result if a pharmacy started selling some random substance, making all all sorts of wild outrageous claims about its medicinal properties, without any foundation (let alone the substance having gone through through strict controlled medical trials). The moral outrage doesn't even bear thinking about. But slap the label "alternative" or "complimentary" on the product, and suddenly everything is A-ok.

This Kevin Trudeau guy just seems to be one of the very few who got caught (and obviously wasn't dealt with seriously enough the first time around).

Oh, and I have the same feelings towards astrologers and mediums and psychics.

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Gilda

Trudeau has been hosting infomercials for more than a decade hawking whatever self-help quick fix was available. IIRC, it was packaged like a news show, and called Amazing Discoveries. He sold one ridiculous piece of crap course after another, memory, speed reading, etc. The natural cures was just one more of these that hit big, so he's been milking it ever since.

Anyone who buys anything from an infomercial is a fool.

Except for that Showtime Rotisserie roaster. That thing is awesome. And Ginsu knives, very nice as well.

Ok, so maybe anything from an infomercial was a bit harsh. But Trudeau is a big tool.

Gilda

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shakran

Try filling out this form:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123566&page=1


Your local ABC station has nothing to do with 20/20 except that they air it after it comes down from the satellite. You'll get better results if you talk to the 20/20 producers directly

pan6467

Hey now Ron (of Ronco) Popeil is the man.

Plus that is how Foreman's grill started.

There are some good offers on some infomercials but 99% is all junk that noone needs or probably will ever use.

The only thing I truly like about infomercials is how stupid the actors act.

"What's that I can cut through this can, I have always been looking for the right tool to do that. Wow, you have invented something everyone can use."

And I love the one with the psuedo oil where they run the car engine without water or oil in it and the little disclaimer "do not try this at home as it may cause serious damage to your engine". WTF.... you're showing that your product is supposed to be able to do that and yet as you demonstarte that it can you tell us not to do it??????

Now dfor my rant on infomercials and cable tv.

I find it sad local "free" stations have to depend on these things to make any money. But I find it pathetic cable stations air these shows. I pay enough for cable, so does everyone, there is no reason a pay channel like USA, Bravo, SciFi, needs to air the bullshit.

As someone who stays up late, I don't pay for cable so that at 3am all I can watch is 60 channels of infomercials and the same reruns Nick @ Nite or TVland has played for the past 3 years. And having HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and the Movie Channel sucks because they air the same movies and shows ad nauseum.

Aw well...... guess I'm in the minority. People must like the system, cause it hasn't changed in years.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

fresnelly

My favourite infamous infomercial product, was the fast defrosting plate. It miraculously defrosts your frozen goods quickly, without any power and cool to the touch. Amazing! How can I open my wallet up for this?

Of course, it's just a teflon pan, so you probably own one already.

I also enjoy the pitches where the actors struggle with the "old ways". Like the guy who becomes completely and helplessly entangled in his garden hose, and dreams of the alternative.

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fresnelly

I once ran sound for an Amway rally. They brought in one of their hot-shot, top sellors to motivate the crowd with his Top five, super secrets to success. They were just vague aphorisms like: "Be outgoing" and "Follow up leads".

His real subject was "Buy my books", which were out in the lobby. He constantly referred to them and how they contained a more in depth look at his secrets. I suspect they just suggest you attend his seminars.

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blizzak

There are many infomercials which are somewhat BS, but there are a lot of good products out there as well that use infomercials.

One reason that advertisers use infomercials is that when they ship products directly, it eliminates the need for a distribution system of huge magnitude. Theu just charge you for shipping and handling from a private carrier of the like. Since they are not able to have products in stores, they don't have that aspect of advertising. Commercials would not allow enough time to give all the information to get your hands on their product, thus infomercials are used.

Hah...and although they are corny sometimes(most of the time), they are necessary in the eyes of the producer.

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Marvelous Marv

I can't seem to escape Erik Estrada hawking real estate developments.

There are plenty of others who want to make you a millionaire by flipping real estate, too. Dave del Dotto was very amusing, right up until he got fined and declared bankruptcy.

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samcol

Well apparently they really don't want you to know about the cures if they are banning him. So much for the free market. I do find it funny that someone reccomending anything other than surgery or drugs for ailments is considered a quack when most studies show that eating right and exercising can prevent or cure a vast array of ailments.

I haven't read the book, but what specifically in the book is fraudulent? What does he say that he is totally untrue? Apparently he even makes a disclaimer at the beginning saying that he's no doctor. Cracking down on this guy is as stupid as buying this book and believing everything in it.

I've bought stupid books before too, but banning book it because you made a dumb decision is totally un-American. At least he isn't prescribing drugs that have more severe side effects than the disease you are trying to fix. The FDA isn't exacly gospel when it comes to medicine either. That's why we need ALL views of medicine so we can discern what type of route we want to take with our health.

If you want to crack down on fraud and corruption go after big pharma and government instead of this nobody.

Ustwo

That leap of logic is so great my ID got Acrophobia just thinking about it.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

samcol

That was sarcasm. Do you have an specifics on what's wrong with the book? Even if only 5% of the information is truthful, I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to advertise and sell it. It's a free country. Saying it's a fraud on a message board is perfectly ok, but the government cracking down on him is just wrong. Regardless of this book, our freedom depends on people being able to make stupid decisions.

Jinn

Personally, I think there are plenty of natural common-sense cures that are better than their counter-parts. Unless my headache is dehabilitating, I will not take Tylenol simply because I know there are brain chemicals whose entire purpose is numbing pain (such as headaches). By taking Tylenol, I'm telling my body that it no longer needs to serve this purpose, and I thereby become dependant on a drug. His infomercial was obviously recieved better by me (someone who hates drug dependance) than someone who takes drugs daily to relieve whatever feeling they may be having. Before I even thought about buying the book, however, I did a little research. I saw his FDA and FTC lawsuits and I saw that he'd had jailtime. I even read similar stories talking about how much fluff was in his book. With this information, I chose not to buy the book.

I don't think the issue is that he's being misleading, but that people are too stupid to research things before they do or buy them. I sure as hell wouldn't go bungee jumping or sky diving without doing a lot of research about it. I'd like to think most people were that way. It's a skill called Critical Thinking, something I've made many TFP posts about.

The legality of "banning" Trudeau is a fine line that I think you're both too far from. What IF the FDA were truly corrupt and 'natural cures' WERE the way to go? The government should not be able to take away that free speech right to "sell the truth." By banning his book and his infomercials, its censorship of speech. Unless it can be proved patently false, you shouldn't dismiss it as quackery. (And trust me, if it is truly Quakery, proving it false is as easy as 1-2-3)

On the flip side, we've got to be able to create standards of medicine so that we can trust doctors and pharmacists to give us something that will not explicitly harm us. I'd have to devolve into the days of "mystics" who count the bones on the ground and tell us that the Gods will cure our disease within 5 days. We've come a long way from that and I'd like to keep the standards of medicine what they are.

I think the solution is stronger controls on all informercials. The latest one I've seen is the "Sauna Belt" that sits on your belly at like 110 degrees and "burns away that excess fat." In reality, it's just taking off water weight, but they've cleverly worded it so that they never actually claim it makes you be more healthy, only have less weight on your belly. I think the only way to enforce stricter standards without unduly burdening companies selling things, the burden should be placed on the NETWORK to verify every claim. If they're going to accept money for advertisements, they are responsible for the claims made in commercials just as much as the advertisers. In this way, it becomes a self-policing environment rather than one in which the FTC has to watch every informerical in existance to determine truthfulness.

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highthief

I know he quoted some studies at one point, some supposedly conducted at the University of Calgary, that supported his quack cures. So a reporter called the University and they were like "Kevin who?". He made it up.

Dr. Joe Schwartz (who runs McGill University's Science department and is a noted radio show host and author) was on the radio this weekend just ripping this guy apart. He really felt Trudeau was evil. He said, you know, there are people who push alternative remedies who really believe the remedies work, and he understands that, even if he (Dr. Joe) doesn't agree - whereas Trudeau is fully aware that what he pushes is untrue, but pushes the snake oil anyway.

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Fremen

I just ordered a set of Ron Popeil's Six Star 25 Piece Knife Set w/Wooden Block.
I don't need overpriced chef quality knives, so these were just what I was in the market for.

The infomercials that make me cringe are the ones with that Don LaPrie (sp) guy, the SMC ones w/Tom Bosley, and the acne commercials with Jessica Simpson.

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Wyckd

he sounds retarded anyway...

and i may offend many people here, im sorry.

but he's like a scientologist.

anyway, he annoys me everytime i see his face or hear his voice on TV...

the things he says are just.. so .. outrageous..