Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

LifeLock: Don’t Do As We Do

lifelocksign.jpgWith stories about identity theft, stolen social security numbers, and compromised account information filling our newspapers weekly, no wonder a number of companies have sprung up to help protect you.

LifeLock is one such outfit. Unlike ID Vault , previously mentioned in Mouse Print* as a service to protect your online login information, LifeLock aims to protect your personal information from being used to commit ID theft for $10 a month.

In a full page newspaper ad [Boston Globe, Feb. 13, 2008], as well as in TV, radio and web ads, LifeLock’s CEO, Todd Davis, publishes his own real social security number to show how confident he is in his service being able to protect him. And they even offer a $1 million dollar service guarantee.

lilfelocknewsp.jpg

The asterisk after “social security number” goes to this fine print disclosure:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“*Never share your social security number or personal information unnecessarily.”  

So besides doing exactly what he counsels prospective customers not to do — putting personal information out there for all to see – he has also voided his own $1 million guarantee.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“18. … In addition, you agree that you will not purposely engage in behavior that will put your personal information at unnecessary risk, such as leaving your PIN or passwords in obvious places or publishing your Social Security Number. “

And, in the irony to end all ironies, Todd Davis had his social security number stolen last year after publicizing it in advertising. It was used to fraudulently obtain a $500 loan. [see story]  Apparently the company found the guy who did it and because they allegedly coerced a confession from him, no prosecution could go forward.

That doesn’t exactly create the type of first person testimonial he might have been hoping for.

Next week: We will look deeper into what services LifeLock offers, and the questionable way part of it works.

Share this story:

 

ADV
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Verizon FiOS: Price Increase Masks Upgrade

Verizon has been rolling out its FiOS fiber optics service and has touted its benefits in advertising. Like other providers, the company has been offering a “triple play” — telephone, TV, and Internet services in one package for only $99.99 a month.

Last year’s ads typically looked like this:

fios07s.jpg

While in the big print it claimed “fastest Internet, period”, the package they were advertising actually  provided the slowest speed FiOS offered:

*MOUSE PRINT: “blazing-fast 5/2 Mbps.”

A download speed of 5 Mbps is nothing special (except compared to dial-up and slow DSL speeds). In fact, Comcast’s standard download speed is 6 Mbps. So, some people not knowledgeable about comparative speeds could have been misled.

Fast forward to 2008. Sharp-eyed consumers may have been dismayed to see Verizon’s current advertising for the triple play because the price was no longer $99.99 but rather $109.99.

fios3.jpg

This time, the company made no superiority claims about the “fastest Internet”, but buried the most important fact in the fine print:

*MOUSE PRINT: “20/5 Mbps blazing-fast Internet”

Verizon actually quadrupled the download speed and more than doubled the upload speed for only $10 more a month (plus a “free” HDTV), when you sign a two-year contract.

For once, the mouse print had good news for customers.

Disclosure: Consumer World, the publisher of Mouse Print*, is a member of Verizon’s Consumer Advisory Board, and receives a small contribution from Verizon to carry out its consumer education mission.

Share this story:

 

ADV
Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Lipitor: Reduces Bad Cholesterol, But…

We have all seen the Lipitor commercials with Dr. Robert Jarvik (he is not licensed to practice medicine in any state, but went to medical school) touting the cholesterol lowering benefits of that drug.

In fact, the company claims it will lower bad cholesterol by 39-60%:

lipitor3960.jpg

The average consumer reading this rightfully thinks this is a good thing for your health. The question, though, is what is the real significance of lowering bad cholesterol.

Another Lipitor ad helps explain this too:

lipitor2.jpg

So, for people at risk, taking Lipitor lowers your chances of having a heart attack by 36%. This certainly sounds like a big benefit for most people considering taking this drug, until you look at the fine print:

*MOUSE PRINT:

lipitordisclose.jpg

The company apparently conducted a test whereby high risk people were divided into two groups,  one of which got Lipitor, and the other got a placebo. Out of every 100 subjects tested, only three people who in essence took nothing to lower their cholesterol suffered heart attacks. On the other hand, two out of 100 Lipitor takers had a heart attack. The difference, according to the study, is that for every 100 people who take Lipitor, only one additional person will be spared a heart attack compared to those who do nothing.

So despite the big percentage claims made in advertising — 39% to 60% reduction in bad cholesterol, and 36% reduction in risk of heart attacks — if the risk the pill is reducing is very small to start with, very few people will actually be spared that heart attack by taking Lipitor (but the company will make a lot of money in the process).

Of course, for the one person in a hundred who is spared, the pill is priceless.

For more information on the math used in drug advertising, read this Business Week story.

Share this story:

 

ADV