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 million in restitution to consumers and other financial remedies. 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 United States 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 that make those promises. Muris praised the major broadcast TV networks for strong screening practices, but acknowledged that most media outlets can't meet that standard. "We are talking about screening out the most egregious examples - weight-loss earrings or shoe insoles, pills that tell consumers they can eat whatever they want and still lose weight, and products that make physically implausible promises like 'lose 30 pounds in 30 days,'" the chairman told media representatives at a meeting Tuesday. (Agencies) | 美國政府日前開始致力于消除虛假的減肥廣告，督促電視、報紙和雜志停止刊登諸如"想吃就吃，照減不誤"、"在睡眠中減肥"等誤導性廣告標語。 美國聯邦貿易委員會消費者保護局局長霍華德·比爾斯11月19日說："著名的新聞媒體應該為他們目前播放的一些廣告感到羞愧。某些廣告標語聽起來實在是荒謬！" 比爾斯認為發行商和有線電視主管會支持這一行動并積極配合的。但如果他們不配合，當局將有可能考慮采取法律行動。  1990年以來，美國聯邦貿易委員會已經將97家涉嫌虛假減肥廣告的公司送上了法庭。共獲得賠償金5千萬美元，用于賠償消費者損失以及其他經濟補償。近來委員會主席繆里斯正頻頻與媒體巨頭會面，希望他們能做到行業內的自我規范。繆里斯認為市場上虛假的減肥廣告數量有增無減，相比之下，法律法規的貫徹不足以與之抗衡。因為有許多廣告是美國境外人士推出的，有些則采用匿名或中間人的方式發行。
委員會還計劃把明顯沒有科學依據的減肥廣告語簡要摘錄，希望媒體機構禁播有這些虛假承諾的廣告。 繆里斯表揚了主要的廣播電視網對廣告播放嚴格把關。但他也承認，大部分電臺電視臺的分部都達不到這樣的標準。 他在18日的會議上向媒體代表說："我們所談論的是剔除一些最荒謬的廣告，比如減肥耳環，減肥鞋墊，減肥藥，在廣告中宣稱顧客可以想吃就吃，照樣減肥，還有減肥產品號稱"30天減掉30磅"，按照自然法則這是絕不可能實現的。 （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2002-11-22 01:00
