Tag: advertising

Steak-umm

Frozen meat vs. COVID-19 misinformation: The strange case of Steak-umm

Of all the strange things that have happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of a frozen meat company as a source of critical thinking and skepticism regarding COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation is one of the strangest. How did Steak-umm become a champion of critical thinking about the pandemic?

/ November 16, 2020

Supplement vendors make unfounded cancer treatment claims

A new analysis shows widespread marketing of natural health products for the prevention or treatment of cancer.

/ March 5, 2020

Nurse Practitioner Pushes Dubious Aesthetic Treatments

Nurse practitioner aggressively advertises a plethora of aesthetic treatments, some of which are dubious. It's legal, but is it ethical?

/ November 19, 2019

BrainPlus IQ: Lying with Advertising

I got an email urging me to check out a wonderful new product that boosts brain performance: it “doubles IQ, skyrockets energy levels, and connects areas of the brain not previously connected.” It is BrainPlus IQ, a dietary supplement that falls into the category of nootropics, substances that enhance cognition and memory. After looking into it, my first thought was that if...

/ November 29, 2016

Stem Cells and Chiropractic

My local newspaper is a constant source of topics to blog about. It regularly features ads for untested dietary supplements and for chiropractors who offer non-chiropractic treatments and don’t identify themselves as chiropractors. Recently, a full-page ad for NW Pain Relief Centers trumpeted “Stem Cell Technology Takes Joint Treatment to the Next Level.” It said stem cell treatments could heal and regenerate...

/ February 23, 2016

Cancer Centers and Advertising Practices

You have probably seen the TV commercials or other ads for Cancer Treatment Centers of America. They make it sound like “the place to go” if you have cancer. They claim to be “different,” to combine the best cancer technologies with natural therapies in a humane, patient-centered approach that helps you fight the disease and maintain your quality of life. They offer...

/ April 14, 2015

Shred360: The Weight Loss Product with the Stupidest Hype Ever

There was a half-page ad in my local paper, thinly disguised as a “Special Report” by a Health and Fitness Editor, for a new fat-melting pill that “could put diet industry out of business by 2016.” I have seen a lot of ridiculous ads for weight loss products, but this one takes the cake. It’s arguably even worse than the one that...

/ March 17, 2015

E-cigarettes: The growing popularity of an unregulated drug delivery device

This post is not about vaccines (for a change). However, I deem it appropriate to mention that one of the topics that I blog most frequently about is vaccines and how the antivaccine movement pushes pseudoscience and quackery based on its apparently implacable hatred of vaccines. (You’ll see why very shortly.) It seems almost as long as my interest in the topic...

/ August 19, 2013

Cartoon: The Omnipresence Of Pharma Advertising

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone. Here’s a cartoon that I made a few years back… Enjoy!

/ April 1, 2010

AARP and Alternative Medicine

I know I said the next entry would be about the efficacy of the influenza vaccine. The road to blogging in paved with good intentions. I will eventually write that entry, but the ADD has kicked in and my attention has wandered elsewhere. I am 51 and one of the benefits of this advanced age is you get to join AARP, the...

/ January 2, 2009