TINA.org’s 12 Days of Christmas

Our Ad-ventorial calendar.

Dec 17, 2013

TINA.org’s 12 Days of Christmas

Sing along, sing along with our wonderful Christmas song. Here are 12 trends in misleading advertising that caught our eye this year.

On the first day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, remember free-eee is never free: On the first day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, remember free-eee is never free

It may say “free,” but you’re paying for everything somehow. Your consumer-suspicious-meter should be in the red whenever you see the word free. You could be handing over personal information that marketers will use to hard-sell you, or you could be signing up for a recurring subscription that will cost you lots.
On the second day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, two jail sentences: On the second day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, two jail sentences

A federal jury in Chicago found repeat bad-ad man Kevin Trudeau guilty of criminal contempt for willfully making misleading claims; a week later, the judge in Trudeau’s civil case also ordered the already-jailed Trudeau to be jailed “to coerce his compliance” to pay $37.6 million to the FTC and to fully disclose his assets. Double jail!
On the third day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, Marine D3: On the third day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, Marine D3

A “Deep Sea Secret” pitched by spam, Marine D3 proved one of our most popular Ad Alerts this year. The Marine D3 website says the dietary supplement solves all sorts of age-induced health issues by preventing “cellular fatigue” and “cell poisoning,” among other over-the-top health claims.
On the fourth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, $4(7) for the Biblical Money Code: On the fourth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, $4(7) for the Biblical Money Code

Sean Hyman’s and NewsMax’s Biblical Money Code has its ads splashed across the Internet. What is the Biblical Money Code? The code itself is a conservative investment strategy based on New Testament quotes. But really it’s a pitch for a $47 newsletter.
On the fifth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, five complaints about Guthy-Renker: On the fifth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, five complaints about Guthy-Renker

Infomercial king Guthy-Renker has celebrities Justin Beiber and Adam Levine pitch its acne fighting Proactiv line. But there are complaints all over the Internet accusing the company of poor billing practices, unwanted automatic recurring payments, and poor customer service. Sorry, Beliebers.
On the sixth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, six recurring ads from the NBA playoffs: On the sixth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, six recurring ads from the NBA playoffs

If you’re a basketball junkie watching every game during the postseason, you’ll start to memorize the ads as you see them over and over. We liked ads starring Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, but we were less enthused about ads for bank BBVA, which was full of fine print, and freecreditreport.com (remember the first day of Christmas — nothing is free).
On the seventh day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, seven questions you should ask about that (possible) pyramid scheme: On the seventh day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, seven questions you should ask about that (possible) pyramid scheme

Does it walk like a pyramid scheme and talk like a pyramid scheme, but everyone is telling you it’s just a multi-level marketing opportunity? Ask yourself these questions before signing up.
On the eighth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, Great Value Lactose-Free Milk (with Lactose): On the eighth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, Great Value Lactose-Free Milk (with Lactose)

Those eight maids may be a-milkin’, but this “lactose-free” milk from Walmart contains lactose. Walmart justifies the claim with a generous interpretation of what “lactose-free” means.
On the ninth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, nine things you should know about Vemma: On the ninth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, nine things you should know about Vemma

Our favorite company to warn you about this year. See all our articles here.
On the tenth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, 10 Lords erecting: On the tenth day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, 10 Lords erecting

The one product we keep finding fishy advertising for? Boner pills. We had 10 this year . . . 10 Ad Alerts on boner pills, that is. Though we found it hard to keep up at times, Healthy Man Cheap Viagra was one of our favorites.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, 11 (plus 128) Happy Calories: On the eleventh day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, 11 (plus 128) Happy Calories

A stretch, we know. We didn’t have anything 11. Coca-Cola ran an ad in the U.K. that showed people dancing, dog walking, and laughing to burn off the 139 calories in a standard Coca-Cola can. But the ASA banned the ad because Coke didn’t make it clear that you’d have to do all the activities shown to burn those 139 calories.
On the 12th day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, 12 Grain Bread (that isn’t the same as whole grain): On the 12th day of Christmas, TINA.org said to me, 12 Grain Bread (that isn’t the same as whole grain)

Whole grains are good for you, and this bread has 12 grains, so it must be great. Only it’s not because it has plenty of refined white grain mixed in with the rest of the bread. Consumers looking for whole grains should look for “100% whole grain” on the label before buying anything else.