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Buy Our Hype

No checks, so anything gets sold via TV

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Buy Our Hype
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Most Wanted

  • Sauna belts: Claim to aid weight loss; Cost: Rs 650
  • Morning walkers: Claim to make you slimmer; Cost: Rs 3,000
  • Acne lotions: Claim a 30-day cure; Cost: Rs 3,000-plus
  • Kuber kunji: A key kept near the vault to attract more wealth; Cost: Rs 3,875
  • Hanuman kawach: Said to make the user strong; Cost: Rs 3,400

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Sushma Desai, 35, had been battling acne since her teenage years. A decade of doctors’ visits and multiple therapies brought only temporary relief. So when she saw an advertisement on television for a miracle acne solution that would make her skin flawless in just 30 days (failing which the cost of the product, around Rs 3,000, would be refunded), she was sorely tempted to try it. “I felt foolish, but then I thought, let me give it a try, since there is nothing to lose,” says the primary school teacher.

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But as it turned out, Sushma had a lot to lose. The lotion felt great when she first applied it, but a week later, her skin began peeling, and soon, burn marks  appeared on her face. She called the company, demanding an explanation and her money back, but the Indian call centre employees of the American firm told her to file a complaint and wait. To her horror, she found many other complaints by disgruntled consumers on the online complaint registry. Till date, she’s had no response, leave alone refund, and is left with skin much worse than before.

Sushma is not the first unwary consumer to have been taken in by products sold on TV, which has emerged as the big leader in direct marketing. More than a dozen TV channels are dedicated to marketing goods 24x7. With no regulation of what can be sold on TV, it’s open season for those wanting to take consumers for a ride. “TV is not the right medium to sell skin care products because users need the careful supervision, of a dermatologist,” warns Dr Rashmi Malik, a skin expert.

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Even other direct marketers are calling for regulation, among them Ritesh Raghuvani of the Direct Marketing Association in Mumbai. The time is ripe for regulation, he says, with TV marketing witnessing a big boom and many foreign companies coming here in search of markets.

Among products, the big successes in terms of sales, according to industry insiders, are sauna belts and morning walkers—machines that claim to make people lose weight fast, with little effort. What is never advertised, however, is the downside of the products. “Consumers are told to use the sauna belt for a maximum of 50 minutes. But they’re not told that if they use it longer, it can cause skin irritation, redness, burning and blistering. It’s been withdrawn from certain countries because of the risk of shock and fire,’’ says Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, director, Max Institute of Internal Medicine, Max Healthcare. He also draws attention to reports of this device causing male infertility and injury to the uterus and kidneys, though they have not been medically substantiated. What is clear, says Budhiraja, is that the belt should be used only under medical supervision.

The products sold on TV include fairness lotions and oil for hair growth. The most recent, and somewhat outlandish product is the Nazar Suraksha Kavach, popularly known as the Turkish evil eye. The sales pitch for what is essentially a set of glass accessories priced at Rs 2,300-2,500 rivals that for life insurance cover. Playing out like episodes of a mini serial, the ads have people narrating “first hand” experiences, of children passing exams after wearing the evil eye bracelet, property deals coming through, and an eligible match being found.

But consumers need not just good luck but good sense and good regulation to survive the marketing spin on TV.

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