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2004/10/05, 06:02 PM
Here's an article I came across about the supplement companies making outragous claims about achieving amazing results. Most of the supplements out on the market today are a waist of money that could be spent on good clean foods or other things. I hope this article saves some people some money.
If you've ever read a Bodybuilding mag, you've most likely seen an ad for a supplement using the classic "before and after" pictures. Almost without exception, there's this pathetic loser kind of guy with lovehandles and skinny arms in the first picture. The "after" picture, when he supposedly used the advertised supplements for a couple of weeks, he shows a rippling washboard, mighty biceps, and a hot babe or two by his side.
To be quite honest with you, it disgusts me. Not the babes, of course, but the cheap tricks they try to pull on the readers. It might seem a bit "off" to start babbling about this in a bodybuilding-advice column, but since it's a commonly used way of separating bodybuilders from their hard-earned money, I feel that it's a concern to us all. Not only do they play us for fools, they're succeeding often enough to keep it as one of the key ingredients of supplement advertising!
Pros
I might be going out on a limb here, but whenever you see a big-name bodybuilder pushing something, there's a 1:1000 chance that he's just exploiting one of the few ways the pros have to make money for their drug-use. If you seriously believe that someone who's been using drugs for X amount of years would suddenly go 100% clean, revert to a specific supplement brand - and see the results going through the roof ... Just pause and ask yourself: If this supplement is so good, then why do all the other pros keep spending way more money on illegal drugs, when they could just switch to a legal, cheaper, and healthier option, and still get better results?
Other people
Another thing you might want to consider is the "ordinary" people featured in the ad. Who is the guy? Is it the owner of the supplement-company, or a serious, independent testperson? And, surprising as it may sound to ask, is it the same guy in the "after" picture? Faking a photo is very easy to do, and even though most fakes are professionally done, you might stumble onto some clumsy ones. The face may be the same, but take a close look at the body. Birthmarks? Proportions? Color shiftings around the neck? Tattoos are obvious enough to be copied, but look at the knees. As an example, if the guy had pretty "lumpy" knees (as in bone-lumps) when seen from the front, how come he suddenly lost the lumps for the after-picture?
Time span
You'll see the most ridiculous claims regarding the time span in which they supposedly made such great improvement, but I'll give that a separate bashing next week so let's not dwell on that now. Instead, let's take a look at the "evidence" they present for it being the short time span. The common practice is to hold a blurry newspaper in the "before" picture. Are you able to make out a date on it? Or even WHAT newspaper it is? And where's the time-evidence on the "after" picture? For example, *I* could easily have "proved" to have made great improvement if I'd shot an "after-diet" shot last year, right before my Hamstring-injury, and then take the "before" picture two months afterwards when I hadn't been able to do any cardio for quite a while! Pictures don't lie, eh? Duuh...
Another thing is the hair. I recently saw an ad in a popular magazine where a guy claimed to have this-and-that much improvement in ONLY 4 weeks ... And appearently it worked great with his hair as well, as it grew 2 full inches in only 4 weeks!
Body posture
Stand right in front of the mirror. Now squeeze your scapulaes together behind you, slouch, let your arms hang and push your belly out. That's not exactly the posture you'd assume at the beach, is it? Instead, you'd prefer to do a lat-spread, flex your arms, suck that tummy in and put on a big smile on your face. Now, that looks a lot better, doesn't it? Take a look at the before & after-pics and consider how much of the "improvement" is achieved by simply not standing like a dork!
Light
At bodybuilding competitions, they usually have strong lights coming almost straight from above in an elsewise dark hall. This is because that kind of lighting brings out the most detail possible into view. If they'd aim that light straight at the guys from the front, they'd look pale, flat and almost chunky. And that's the pros we're talking about. Now, an "ordinary" person who gets a strong light aimed straight at him, esp. while pushing his tummy out, looks like a stranded miniwhale. That's the "before"-picture. In the "after"-picture, he's tanned (which does a LOT to bring out detail in a physique), possibly oiled up - and gets a flattering light from above. Try it yourself! You might end up mounting a spot-light above your bedroom mirror!
Clothes
In "mainstream" weightloss-supplement ads, the persons featured are often wearing clothes in the before & after pics. This is, thank God, something we're mostly spared from in bodybuilding-mags. However, it's common practice to have baggy, ill-fitting trunks in the "before" picture, and either rolled up or completely different trunks in the "after" picture, so that the person can flex the quads. It's a minor detail, of course, but all small details taken together is what creates a false image. Be observant, and there's a definite possibility that you'll get pissed off.
Background
A blurry, grayish background, especially when using the "aim-the-light-right-at-the-guy-like-a-scared-rabbit" technique, is great for making the "before"-picture look like a Wanted-poster for an escaped convict. By changing the "after" picture into a luxurious mansion, they try to convey a message of improved life quality and wealth along with a better body. Add a hot babe or two, and they hope that you're insecure enough to fall for the oldest trick in the book - "Buy this and the chicks will love you!"
...And this is just some of the tricks used to rip you off. There's also the use of the bogus "scientific" look, with charts and men in white labcoats, the use of a known "steroid guru," and the really low-level ones which try to induce fear in you for being too small, i.e: "Don't be a victim! Buy this so you get big enough to victimize others!" The tricks are many, only one thing stays the same: Facts. Knowledge is your only defense against ripoffs, so trust your analytical mind rather than your eyes.
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