Jillian Michaels lawsuit provides a reminder that your website claims about the results achieved by your products and services can land you in a lot of legal trouble — have your Internet attorney review your website content — beyond what the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general consumer protection divisions can do to you.
You could face a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit. Here’s an example of how it works.
Fitness guru Jillian Michaels, a star of the television show “The Biggest Loser” has been sued in a California state court for allegedly making false claims on behalf of a weight-loss product. According to the plaintiff in the case, Michaels has claimed “Take two capsules before main meals and you lose weight. That’s it.” This, the plaintiff contends is false and contrary to Jillian Michaels repeated statements to the effect that long-term weight loss requires hard work and discipline.
This post isn’t about whether Michaels has crossed the line into making deceptive and misleading results claims. It is about the consequences of making any types of results claims for your products and services that an angry customer, combined with a plaintiff’s attorney willing to work on a contingency fee, can use to make your life a living hell for the next several years whether or not you did something wrong. In the Jillian Michaels lawsuit, it is likely that she will spend more than $100,000 in legal fees if the dispute goes to trial. That’s not counting damages if she loses or settles out of court. Even if Jillian Michaels wins the lawsuit, the public will remember the allegations rather than the outcome. How much would you be able to pay in legal fees in a lawsuit because you didn’t head off claims by consulting with an Internet attorney before posting content online?
Moral of the story. Learn from the Jillian Michaels lawsuit. Double check every claim you make about your products and services. If you can afford it (how can you afford not to?), get your website analyzed by your Internet attorney. This includes both your sales page and the testimonials you use in your marketing. When in doubt, you may want to Kill Your Testimonials.
Hat tip: Tom Harvey at the Salt Lake Tribune
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Ms Michaels basically is full of shit and cares very little if her product works or not she has a flat tummy, is sexy as fuck and has the public totally fooled. Ever see what she charges for he combo of supplements? $50 for vitamins. Its the hard work and more hard work that losses weight not supplements.
i think its disgusting when companies take advantage of selling products to fool people, giving false hope, instead of being honest and getting customers thei right way!! Something needs to be done about this so that this will stop!
Frauds and con artists will always take advantage of others. The Internet just makes it easier for them to do so on an worldwide scale.
Best wishes,
-Mike
Come on People, we all know that there is not a pill that will make you lose weight without changing your eating habits and exercise, and if we believed every diet comercial we would be sueing everyone.
@maryjo – there isn’t a magic weight loss pill but there are plenty of people who will sell miracle weight loss plans because so many believe in a quick fix. For me, the only thing that works is eating healthier and exercising.
How much bad food did you people digest? How long did it take for you to get that extra few pounds? How many lazy days did you have to get yourself out of shape? Obviously it is going to take healthy eating habits and not going to happen overnight. You are going to have to get off the couch and actually excersize. Use your heads! The pills you take for weight loss cannot do it alone. They will help burn fat and change your matabolism,,,,, along with excersize. Her vitamins and minerals are spendy, but I have been taking them for 3 months now and can tell a definite difference in myself. No I am not regularly excersizing, I do eat pretty healthy. I am taking acea berry burn, one pill a day,, and i am loosing weight one pound at a time. I joined the gym 3 days ago. We can blame anyone we want because we aren’t loosing weight, where as we can ONLY BLAME OURSELVES! Have a great day! Debbie
I don’t think she meant anything wrong, I think she assumed people of any normal caliber would get the fact you do have to excersize and eat healthy