"Smoke Remedy" infomercial: a fraud, hoax and scam?
I just viewed a 30 minute stop smoking telemarketing commercial for a product called Smoke Remedy. Understandably, the YouTube link to the full infomercial was removed by "SmokeRemedy" since publication of this 2011 article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4MVBn2W4ag.
Marketed by Living Well, LLC, the infomercial repeatedly asserts to smokers that Smoke Remedy "eliminates" cravings. Is it true? Does it work in eliminating craves? Contrary to the infomercial's many crave elimination representations the product's website states, "At each craving or desire to smoke ... spray 3 times into your mouth."
Which is it? What's the truth? Either Smoke Remedy eliminates craves or you use it after a crave hits? It is false and deceptive to market this product by suggesting that it eliminates craves, and then send the product's purchasers use instructions telling them to use it after a crave strikes.
What the infomercial fails to tell viewers is that crave episodes generally last less than 3 minutes. It also fails to mention that one of Smoke Remedy's ingredients is "tabacum," or that tabacum's most prominent chemical is nicotine. It's a bit strange as the commercial attacks replacement nicotine.
Additionally, in that the infomercial represents that Smoke Remedy is "effective," those selling it suggest that they know the percentage of Smoke Remedy users who succeed in quitting long-term (the standard time period used to compare quitting methods is six months) but apparently have chosen to keep those figures secret. That is highly unusual.
If, on the other hand, there have been no studies, tests or other evaluations to assess and prove Smoke Remedy's effectiveness, if any, then implying that there has is not honest. Either way, why spend money to buy a product when you are not told your chances or odds of success when using it? I heard no infomercial claim, and read no website statement, suggesting that Smoke Remedy has ever been studied, tested or evaluated to determine if it works and is effective, as promised.
A search of PubMed, the U.S. Government's index of all medical journal articles, does not produce any study or paper mentioning or reviewing Smoke Remedy. Again, this is very strange.
Website visitors should also be aware that by clicking "Get Started" after typing in your name and personal contact info that you have agreed to Smoke Remedy'sprivacy policy which states in part: "By registering with our Website, completing any forms on our Website, by checking or not unchecking co-registration boxes ... you grant Living Well Remedies, LLC, ('Company'), the right to use the collected information for marketing purposes including, but not limited to, sharing such information with third party advertisers."
Once visitors click "Get Started" a purchase/buy page opens telling you the price and requesting credit card info. If the smoker then and there provides their credit card info apparently they pay the stated $129 plus $14.95 for shipping and handling. But if they attempt to leave that page without making a purchase, a pop-up discount box appears dropping the price to $99.95. Then today (1/10/11), I received a telephone call from Smoke Remedy dropping the price to $89.95, including shipping.
If you have purchased and used Smoke Remedy, please write and share your use experience so that it can be shared with others.
Keep in mind, that in no area is consumer fraud easier to pull-off than smoking cessation. Why? Because no matter what quitting product you and I invent, unless it somehow undercuts a quitter's own natural 10-11% odds of quitting for six months, that roughly 1 in 10 who buy and use it will succeed in quitting. That 1 in 10 successful quitter will likely be totally convinced that the reason for their success was our product. We will then be able to use their "testimonial" to convince others to purchase and use it too, and make lots and lots of money.
The best kept quitting secret of all is that you do not need to purchase any product, undergo any procedure or visit or join any website to succeed, including ours. Truth is, more successful ex-smokers will quit smoking cold turkey this year than by all other quitting methods combined.
The one lesson WhyQuit strives to teach every visitor is that chemical dependency upon smoking nicotine is a disease and illness that is as real, permanent and involves many of the same brain pathways as alcoholism, heroin or meth addiction. Why? Because fully accepting chemical dependency greatly simplifies quitting's rules. In fact there's only one. It's that lapse equals relapse, that one is too many and a thousand never enough, that just one puff of nicotine and we should fully expect our brain to soon begin begging for more.
It's called the "Law of Addiction" and not learning it is a horrible reason to die.
John R. Polito is solely responsible for the content of this article. Any factual error will be immediately corrected upon receipt of credible authority in support of the writer's contention. E-mail comments to john@whyquit.com
