Desires Versus the Reality of Self‐Regulation

By now everyone interested in consumer research has heard the often-repeated news that there is an epidemic of obesity in the United States. In addition, numerous people who are not grossly overweight wish they were thinner. While some people are overweight as a result of genetics or metabolic disorders, most are simply slothful gluttons. Thus, although the intuitively obvious way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more, it should surprise no one that most overweight Americans hope to lose weight while still spending their free time on the couch, driving cars instead of walking, and overfilling their plates at all-you-can-eat buffets. To satisfy this widespread consumer "need," a plethora of products are available that promise consumers quick-and-easy, exercise-free weight loss. No longer buried in small, almost-hidden classified mail order advertising or late-night infomercials, these products are now prominently advertised in many major media vehicles and have their own huge display section in many stores. Since the products are "supplements" and not drugs, Congress has limited the Food and Drug Administration's powers to regulate their advertising or sale. The products are not screened by the government to be certain they can perform as claimed--the most "honest" of these television commercials will include an almost invisible disclaimer that the FDA has not screened their advertising for accuracy--and as evidenced by the death of prominent celebrities using or abusing ephedra, the products can be dangerous even when used as directed on the label. For over a decade, the Federal Trade Commission has seemed to start new investigations or issue new complaints against another weight loss advertiser almost every month. But there are just too many of these companies. Despite its best efforts, the FTC seems incapable of ending the deceptive television, newspaper, and magazine advertising, with a large quantity of deceptive advertising appearing even in otherwise reputable vehicles. A logical solution would be to call on the media managers of the mass media to help in the cause of consumer protection. After all, no U.S. mass media vehicle is required to accept any commercial advertising material it does not wish to carry. On November 19, 2002, I participated in an FTC workshop that was intended to encourage greater media self-regulation of deceptive weight loss advertising. For the entire morning, a Science Panel of ten distinguished medical experts discussed a list of common advertising of label claims made for these weight loss products. The panelists sometimes debated the marketing point of view, as to what is "significant weight loss" to consumers, or if any products on the market might generate some short-term reductions. Yet in the end, for virtually every common claim for these ubiquitous products, the panelists gave unanimous agreement that such claims can't be true, with a rare single panelist noting an exception under certain technical conditions. For slightly over an hour after a lunch break, a second Industry Panel talked of the importance of self-regulation and touted their own activities. Some firms have implemented noteworthy internal codes of ethics, some industry trade associations have written guidelines for members, and every association presents its code of good practices as a strong force for consumer protection. Left unstated, however, is the reality that even if a code is followed by some "leading" firms in a business, many other competitors probably consider it irrelevant for their daily operations (Rotfeld 1992). Some companies and trade associations will want to do the right thing, but the Jenny Craig company or National Nutritional Foods Association, for example, can't force another business to cease its claims that a pill alone will enable a now-overweight woman to soon be able to wear a bikini and have staring men walk into walls. The workshop ended with a Media Panel, which consisted of media managers, representatives of media trade associations, Frederick Schauer, from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and me. …