Ab Circle Pro Slapped with $25 Million Fine for Crazy Weight Loss Claims
In today’s news of the obvious, it turns out three minutes of daily exercise won’t get you in shape — no matter what type of equipment you’re using. And because Ab Circle Pro made those outrageous claims, it’s now on the hook to pay a $25 million fine.
The Ab Circle Pro is a workout gizmo with an accompanying infomercial than ran some 10,000 times between 2009 and 2010, promising that using it only three minutes a day would “melt inches and pounds” away.
Not so much, it seems, and after the Federal Trade Commission got involved, the manufacturer and the company that made those ads has agreed to pay up to $25 million amid allegations of misleading advertising.
“The FTC reminds marketers that they should think twice before promising a silver-bullet solution to a health problem – whether it involves losing weight or curing cancer,” said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Weight loss is hard work, and telling consumers otherwise is deceptive.”