2 lawsuits hit the wires yesterday that CPA affiliates need to be aware of. If you have a flog or fake news site and are using fake celebrity endorsements or if you are doing rebill offers, you could be in trouble. In addition to the threat of legal problems, you need to realize these aggressive ads that are all over the place are also giving our industry a really bad reputation.
Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz, sued more than 50 businesses that were using false endorsements by the pair to sell Acai, Resveratrol, colon cleanses and various beauty products. In addition to the fake testimonials many of the sites were domain squatting using their names. They are still in search of the owners of 500 more sites, including affiliates, that will be added to the suit.
One of the lead defendants named in the suit is FWM Laboratories, which sells Resveratrol Ultra, Acai Berry Detox, and other supplements. In a
BusinessWeek story, the CEO of the company blames it's affiliates saying "that he didn't write his own ads. Instead, he said, he worked through networks of "affiliates," which he paid to spread the word about FWM's products".
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"Harpo's suit targets both supplement sellers and their affiliate marketers. The complaint names a handful of individuals who the company believes are responsible for writing and distributing the ads, but Rachman says there could be as many as 500 such affiliates, and his firm is still trying to locate most of them. When the bad actors are identified, the complaint will be amended to include them."
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The Manhattan federal court filing demands up to $100,000 per web site for cybersquatting, along with restitution for any unjust enrichment.
In the second suit, the
Illinois Attorney General sued aggressive marketers
including one affiliate that were making false Acai endorsement claims and deceptively charging consumers after "Free Trials."
“We must hold these Internet scammers accountable for their role in a seedy marketing game that steers unsuspecting consumers to online schemes,” Madigan said. “We also need to send a clear message to other marketers and networks in the business of designing misleading, traffic enticing schemes.”
The 3 defendants in this case, including the affiliate marketer, received an injunction against selling any more dietary supplements, were ordered to pay restitution to the consumers and were fined $50,000.
Oprah and Attorney General Sue Affiliates Over Acai and other Rebill Offers
