Those horrid Kevin Trudeau ads.

[clichemoth]

Am I the only person who immediately changes the dial once one of them comes on? Trudeau is a scam artist and a fraud who's been nailed with numerous FCC and FTC fines, yet somehow he keeps popping back up like a demonic jack-in-the-box. I don't want to listen to any station willing to accept his dirty money.

Unfortunately, that basically leads to me avoiding all news/talk, because the ads are everywhere. Conservative, progressive, sports, business, no matter what, you'll eventually hear a plug for the slimeball's book.

Why is he even still allowed to advertise on radio or TV?

Maybe this belongs on C2C, but I think it's more appropriate here since the ads seem to be confined to talk radio . . .

 

[OldAkronite]

> Unfortunately, that basically leads to me avoiding all
> news/talk, because the ads are everywhere. Conservative,
> progressive, sports, business, no matter what, you'll
> eventually hear a plug for the slimeball's book.

I tune out the station when his ads come on...sometimes literally, sometimes mentally.

You know how he could make money?

Sell a package that guaranteed that we'd never hear his commercials again.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>

 

[gr8oldies]

See the thread in "Off the Air" a week or so ago about him reinventing himself as an expert of "natural cures". I don't hear him much on my area N/Ters, probably because the ratings are so good they don't need him!
<P ID="signature">______________
Did the Corinthians ever write back?</P>

 

[clichemoth]

> See the thread in "Off the Air" a week or so ago about him
> reinventing himself as an expert of "natural cures". I don't
> hear him much on my area N/Ters, probably because the
> ratings are so good they don't need him!
>

That thread does bring up one interesting point. His previous infoscams have all involved him pimping the works of others like "Dr." Bob Barefoot and whoever created that memory thing.

But with his new game, he's putting himself in the spotlight as the author of this book (which he probably really wrote just like Bob Larson wrote "Dead Air" and Jim Davis has written Garfield for the past 10 years). Why? Is his reputation so bad that not even other frauds and quacks are willing to work for him?

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

> > See the thread in "Off the Air" a week or so ago about him
>
> > reinventing himself as an expert of "natural cures". I
> don't
> > hear him much on my area N/Ters, probably because the
> > ratings are so good they don't need him!
> >
>
> That thread does bring up one interesting point. His
> previous infoscams have all involved him pimping the works
> of others like "Dr." Bob Barefoot and whoever created that
> memory thing.
>
> But with his new game, he's putting himself in the spotlight
> as the author of this book (which he probably really wrote
> just like Bob Larson wrote "Dead Air" and Jim Davis has
> written Garfield for the past 10 years). Why? Is his
> reputation so bad that not even other frauds and quacks are
> willing to work for him?
>

It's part of the FTC settlement he entered into last year. He was fined something like $2 million, and agreed not to sell or make claims about any product or "cure" in infomercials for enternity.

But the settlement explicitly did not cover books and other purportedly First Amendment protected activities. So, if he was peddling someone else's book with the same stuff, that would fall under the settlement terms--he'd be pushing products. But, because he "wrote" it, it's considered immune from government action because of his supposed First Amendment right to publish books that talk about this stuff (for the record, I'm skeptical of this excuse--my First Amendment jurisprudential study doesn't jive with it.)

 

[FightingIrish]

> Am I the only person who immediately changes the dial once
> one of them comes on? Trudeau is a scam artist and a fraud
> who's been nailed with numerous FCC and FTC fines, yet
> somehow he keeps popping back up like a demonic
> jack-in-the-box. I don't want to listen to any station
> willing to accept his dirty money.
>
> Unfortunately, that basically leads to me avoiding all
> news/talk, because the ads are everywhere. Conservative,
> progressive, sports, business, no matter what, you'll
> eventually hear a plug for the slimeball's book.
>
> Why is he even still allowed to advertise on radio or TV?
>
> Maybe this belongs on C2C, but I think it's more appropriate
> here since the ads seem to be confined to talk radio . . .
>


Here's an article from a few days ago in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-08-07-cures_x.htm

Kevin Trudeau has no medical training. He's a convicted felon. And he has been banned from hawking products and services on TV that federal regulators charge have no merit.

But the former used-car salesman's book —Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About— has vaulted to the top of most best-seller lists.

Released in late June, NaturalCures is No. 2 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list, trailing only the latest Harry Potter installment. It's also among top sellers ranked by TheWall Street Journal, The New York Times and Amazon.com.

Natural Cures ($29.95), which Trudeau pushes on TV infomercials, purports to offer natural remedies for many diseases and provides advice on avoiding illnesses. It lambastes regulators, drugmakers and marketers for promoting and monitoring what Trudeau says are harmful foods and medications. And it directs readers to Trudeau's naturalcures .com Web site, where the hopeful can pay $9.95 monthly (or $499 lifetime) for access.

(more)<P ID="signature">______________
The Liberal Talk Radio Update</P>

 

[Gnarlodious]

Re: Those horrid grinding teeth ads.

> Sell a package that guaranteed that we'd never hear his commercials again.

But then we'd still have to hear the grinding teeth ads :=)<P ID="signature">______________
• K5ZN</P>

 

[gr8oldies]

With all the "acknowlegdgements" I read thumbing through it at the bookstore, obviously the book is ghost-written. Sounds like a reaction to getting shut down ("only a drug can diagnose or cure a disease"). There are certainly more credible books about the subject.<P ID="signature">______________
Did the Corinthians ever write back?</P>

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

> With all the "acknowlegdgements" I read thumbing through it
> at the bookstore, obviously the book is ghost-written.
> Sounds like a reaction to getting shut down ("only a drug
> can diagnose or cure a disease"). There are certainly more
> credible books about the subject.
>

*MY* book on the subject is more credible--I haven't even written one.

 

[clichemoth]

> With all the "acknowlegdgements" I read thumbing through it
> at the bookstore, obviously the book is ghost-written.

More than likely, it was cut-and-pasted from every site he could find on Google, but at least he has an acknowledgements page.

> Sounds like a reaction to getting shut down ("only a drug
> can diagnose or cure a disease"). There are certainly more
> credible books about the subject.
>

Yeah, that would be every book ever written. I'd use Harlequin romance novels as a medical text before I would anything with his name on it.

 

[nate81]

Re: Those horrid grinding teeth ads.

> > Sell a package that guaranteed that we'd never hear his
> commercials again.
>
> But then we'd still have to hear the grinding teeth ads :=)
>

Or those Media Power infomercials. They are so BADLY produced that they really qualify as non-stop comedy. And is host "Chris McKay" (sp?) a actual human? Or an android?

Oh, and while John Madden may be a living legend, his commercial pitches are laughable at best. "You hit back with BOOM! Tough actin' Tinactin!"

- nate81<P ID="signature">______________
Nathan Obral
University Partership Representative: LCCC Student Senate, Elyria, Ohio

The Morning Love with Mark and Sarah - Fridays 9AM EDT on Duck Radio!</P>