My wife can tell you that it is not uncommon for me to blurt out the phrase “what a bunch of junk” after watching certain commercials. I get so frustrated when I see a T.V. advertisement for a drug or supplement that intentionally misleads. The reason is because I know that a certain percentage of people watching the ad will take the misleading information to heart which will then influence their thinking about the product.

Recently, there have been two themes that permeate these misleading ads.

Misleading Theme 1: Connecting on a personal level

Companies are making a strong effort to connect with you on a very personal level by introducing you to people who work for their company. These people then proceed to passionately relay to you, through some personal story, just how proud they are of their company and the product they make. The goal is to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling that will transfer to the way you think about their product.

A good example of this is the new Tylenol® Promise campaign. On T.V. and the web they introduce you to actual employees who tell you about how much effort they put into making Tylenol and that they make it “knowing not only that your children will take it, but also their children.” One of the very likeable characters even says “there is a lot of love that goes into these products.” Give me a break! What a bunch of junk! (my favorite saying)

If you have ever worked in a warehouse or manufacturing facility the thought that the employees are making their products “with love” is absurd. They want you to believe that they give each pill a hug and say, “I love you little Tylenol tablet!” before it goes into the bottle. Yea, right! These employees do their jobs day after day after day with hairnets on waiting for their next break and payday. Do you really believe that they influence the effectiveness of this pill on an individual level? Of course, no.

The FDA reports that acetaminophen products, like Tylenol, account for 12,000 UNINTENTIONAL E.R visits and 100 deaths a year. About 10 of those deaths are children. Remember, these are not people taking super high doses! I would love to watch the footage of these lovable Tylenol employees meeting with the parents of the hundreds of children who have died due to using their products. I can see the smiles turn upside down as these employees are told how their product ended the life of so many people. The makers of Tylenol know that their profits would be devastated if these facts became well known. Instead they put up this smoke and mirror diversion described above.

Misleading Theme 2: Our product provides something special that others do not.

Great examples of this are the newest Centrum® commercials. These commercials show a large dump truck or elevator filled with non-descript bottles of multivitamin supplements. The good-looking and authoritative actor tells you that all of these other supplements are about quantity while Centrum is about Balance and Specific Beneficial Nutrient Interactions. They then describe how nutrients work together by giving examples like calcium and vitamin D or vitamin C and E. Finally, they tell you that if you are not getting this from your multivitamin that “your body may not be getting the balance of nutrients it needs - the balance you'll find in Centrum.”

What a bunch of junk! EVERY multivitamin on planet earth contains calcium, vitamin D, vitamin C and vitamin E and the makers of Centrum know this. There are NO specially balanced formulations found in Centrum. They just want you to think that there are and they know that the vast majority of people will never come to this conclusion. Thus, when you go to pick up a multivitamin you will more than likely pick Centrum because you know that it is balanced for specific beneficial nutrient interactions.

As I sit and write this article, I just saw another Centrum commercial with a bunch of people dressed in boxes with mineral names printed on them. The same misleading message of unique combinations persists. PLEASE make it stop!!

My recommendation is to never support products that use these tactics to get your money. Additionally, if you or a loved one still takes Centrum or any store-bought vitamin you have to read or listen to the Vitamin Answer Book. You are actually paying much more for these multivitamins than for a very high quality one like Alpha Base from OrthoMolecular. If you don’t believe me, listen to the Vitamin Answer Book. If you do believe me, get some Alpha Base today and save 20% through August 2007.