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Does Prevagen Really Work?

Everyone has seen the TV commercials for a pill made from a chemical originally found in jellyfish. But you may not remember the product’s name nor what it is supposed to do.

The product is Prevagen and it is supposed to improve your memory.

Here is one of their ads from 2014:

*MOUSE PRINT:

What the commercials don’t disclose is that the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General’s office recently sued the makers of Prevagen alleging they did not have reliable studies to back up their claims.

In particular, the commercials assert that it is a chemical found in jellyfish that is the magic ingredient to make your brain work better. The FTC and NY-AG say that the company’s own studies show that this chemical never actually reaches the brain! (See the court filings.)

And the FTC has gotten complaints about the product. Here are some of them.

The company, Quincy Bioscience, released a statement vehemently denying the allegations. In part it says:

“Prevagen is safe. Neither the FTC nor the New York Attorney General has alleged that Prevagen can cause or has caused harm to anyone. And hundreds of thousands people tell us it works and improves their lives.

Quincy has amassed a large body of evidence that Prevagen improves memory and supports healthy brain function.”

So who and what is a consumer to believe?

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MyPillow Adjusts its Advertising Without Much Improvement

It seems forever that Mike Lindell, the inventor of the wildly successful MyPillow, has been selling his fluffy creations on a “buy one, get one free” basis. One was $99.xx and the other one was “free.” If you didn’t need two pillows, you could hunt around on his website, go to a TV shopping channel or store, and buy one for $49.xx — the real price of a single pillow.

MyPillow bogo

The problem with offers like this is that it is generally considered an unfair or deceptive practice to double the regular price of an item in order to give away a second one free. Many moons ago, MrConsumer went after Mattress Discounters while at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office for this very practice. When they had a “buy the mattress, get the boxspring free” sale, they just doubled the price of the mattress in order to give away the boxspring free. We collected a cool million in penalties and mattress donations to the homeless.

The Better Business Bureau contacted MyPillow last summer about the misleading BOGO offer. It tried to explain to the company that you cannot perpetually advertise a sale and savings because at some point the sale price really is the regular price. Then in early January 2017 after Lindell had continued to advertise that offer all fall, the BBB pulled the company’s accreditation and lowered its rating to an “F.”

Then in late January, MyPillow finally changed its advertising. But it is still advertising sale prices. This time it is 30% off.

*MOUSE PRINT:

MyPillow 30% off

The problem remains the same, however. If you are continually on sale, whether it is “buy one, get one free,” or “50% off,” or “30% off,” the savings are illusory because they are based off a fictitious, inflated regular price that may never be charged. In Massachusetts, for example, there is a requirement that the item be offered at the regular price for a reasonably substantial period of time.

MyPillow could make some clever legal arguments to try to absolve itself of any wrongdoing should the company be sued, but that issue is for another day.

On the radio recently, MyPillow has gone back to promoting “50% off” sales and “buy one, get three free” offers. So it looks like not much has changed.

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Here We Downsize Again – 2017 (Part 1)

In the ever-shrinking world of groceries and toiletries, some big manufacturers continue to think that smaller is better (at least for their bottom line). Herewith, then, are some of the latest products to have been downsized.

Example 1:

Wayne L. was shocked recently when he checked out the display of Crest Pro-Health at his local store and found that P&G had again shrunk the size of their tubes.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Crest Pro-Health

Unbelievably, over the past couple of years, the tubes have gone from a full six ounces to 5.1 ounces last year, and now a measly 4.6 ounces. At this rate, they will be travel-size before you know it.

We asked P&G why the product was being downsized again.

Our first priority is to provide our trusted, quality products for you at good value. In these times where everyday costs are rising, the cost of the raw materials that go into our toothpaste has also risen. Although we have tried wherever possible to absorb and manage these, in some instances, we have had to reflect this in our cost-pricing to retailers. — P&G spokesperson

Example 2:

A Massachusetts consumer, Rosemarie L., was incensed that Coke 8-packs had become Coke 6-packs at her local supermarket and were selling for the same price as before. We contacted Coca-Cola to find out what was going on, and whether these Coke mini-cans had really been downsized but the price kept the same.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Coke

“We are in the process of phasing out mini cans in eight packs. We are shifting to six packs and 10 packs. … The suggested retail price of six packs is less than the suggested retail price of eight packs.” — Coca-Cola spokesperson

So, this may be a little more about Coke changing its product mix than downsizing in the conventional sense. While this consumer’s store chose to keep the price the same for both sizes, a check at Target revealed the 8-pack selling for $3.69 but the new 6-pack was only $2.99.

Example 3:

When the chips are down, that means the ever-changing cans of Pringles are probably down too (after being upsized a while back).

*MOUSE PRINT:

Pringles

Mike K., who kindly submitted this picture to Mouse Print*, says he “noticed that the Pringles shelf looked like a topographical map with all of the different new and old cans.” Each can lost about half an ounce of chips, going from 5.96 to 5.5 ounces.

Example 4:

Finally this round, one of the original products to ever be downsized — coffee — is at it again. This time, it is Maxwell House’s turn, following a similar move by Folgers a couple of years ago.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Maxwell House

The old 28-ounce size is now 24.5 ounces. This amounts to a loss of 30 cups of coffee per can with the total going from 240 cups down to just 210 cups. It is noteworthy to mention that five years ago when Maxwell House last downsized, each can of a similar variety produced 270 cups of coffee from a can weighing over two pounds. (See picture.)

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