Nivea Silhouette Cream Too Good To Be True, FTC Says

Turns out that Nivea Silhouette cream was a little too good to be true.

According to a press release, the Federal Trade Commission has fined parent company Beiersdorf, Inc. $900,000 and banned the brand from claiming that the lotion's anise and white tea formula could cut down fat. From the release:

The proposed settlement:

• bars Beiersdorf from claiming that any product applied to the skin causes substantial weight or fat loss or a substantial reduction in body size.
• prohibits the company from claiming that any drug, dietary supplement, or cosmetic causes weight or fat loss or a reduction in body size, unless the claim is backed by two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical studies.
• requires that any claim regarding the health benefits of any drug, dietary supplement, or cosmetic be backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

The FTC pointed to Nivea's television spots and alleged purchase of sponsored search results from google ("when consumers searched on the words 'stomach fat,' 'nivea slim silhouette,' or 'thin waist,' they found Beiersdorf ads) as purveyors of false information. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz remarked, "The real skinny on weight loss is that no cream is going to help you fit into your jeans. The tried and true formula for weight loss is diet and exercise."

WATCH:

(Via ConsumerReports.org)

Comments

[theredqueen]

11:02 AM on 07/01/2011

Oh dear!. Just when I bought fifty tubes of the stuff. I wonder if Walgreens will take them back.

[Kelly Jade]

10:43 AM on 07/01/2011

....what idiots bought into this?

[lillypad1]

01:29 PM on 07/04/2011

my sentiments exactly

[running with turtles]

10:02 AM on 07/01/2011

Wha?? This cream won't make me skinny?

[VOTER]

01:19 AM on 07/04/2011

If you put it on ice cream, cakes, candies and sweets, etc.., it will.
Gag!
: )

[SilentSolidarity]

04:04 AM on 07/01/2011

Imagine the Republican dream became true and companies could claim whatever they wanted. At some point, they would sell us cow dump and call it mashed potatoes. Thank God we have government regulators that protect the little dignity we still have.

[Mrs RAC]

08:42 AM on 07/01/2011

Oh, for crying out loud..... get the hell over it already! Not everything boils down to a Republican/Democrat issue.

If you're dumb enough to believe that weight loss comes in a cream off the drug-store shelf, then you deserve to sit there all greased up waiting for the pounds to melt away. Maybe you can munch on a couple of Big Mac's while you're at it, huh?

You keep relying on the government to protect your 'dignity', sunshine! That way you're not responsible for any stupid gimmick you fall for, now are you?

[remember1776]

09:02 AM on 07/01/2011

Mrs RAC - I think I love you.

[NewDem08]

10:26 AM on 07/01/2011

This Democrat thinks THIS is the best response ever. Well done.

[DaniLynn]

12:44 AM on 07/01/2011

This is hilarious!!! They always have a woman like this one do the commercials. Women who do not weigh over 100 lbs. and look sick. Why would she even need to use the lotion? She has not one single fat cell on her body, at all!

[MochaLite]

06:46 PM on 07/02/2011

That's cuz she used the cream ... not!

[MMMMarilyn]

12:40 AM on 07/01/2011

If a guy use it to whack off he'll be sorry about his newly tiny thingy

[SkreetGil1]

12:14 AM on 07/01/2011

Really? Someone that lean needs to worry about excess fat?

Gawd! Women can't win!!!

[Lisa Morgan 2]

12:21 PM on 07/17/2011

I was just thinking that. This woman is worried about being too fat? No wonder women always beat themselves up and feel insecure.

[Carbon Forteetoo]

10:40 PM on 06/30/2011

I could watch the blond in that commercial rub lotion on herself all day. She purty.

[supertuffy86]

09:27 PM on 06/30/2011

I have never even seen this commercial, and who would be that dumb to fall for that?

[Ethical Cat]

09:12 PM on 06/30/2011

It bothers me when I see teenagers and women spend tremendous amount of time leafing through women's magazines that are half-filled (if not more) with advertisements on beauty products. They really buy into the hype and take everything written without much doubt. Then they go and buy up all these stuff in the hopes of becoming prettier and younger looking. When will companies be more responsible, and readers more rationale/discerning...?

[yougogirl1948]

12:09 PM on 07/01/2011

@ Ethical Cat:

"When will companies be more........? Never. The companies selling this junk and the desperate, gullible people buying it will always be with us as long as there is a buck to be made and a dream to chase. I remember back in the day(earlier seventies) I used to starve myself by eating just one apple per day for four days per week so I could have a body like Cher because she was touted as having the ideal body type. It did not cross my very young mind that it was not in my genetic makeup to be that slender. None of the women in my family looked like Cher. We are all tall (5' 7" or so) with medium frames and normal hips and rears. It took me a little while to realize I would never have an anorexic body like Cher. Hopefully, we all grow up like I did. The fashion, beauty and entertainment industries have done a number on American women. Eat, drink, exercise be merry and healthy, and accept who/what you are.

Also, to all of the anti-government people, I say thank God we have the government to half-way protect the public from these charlatans. The protection is far from perfect, but I would not want to revert back to the way it used to be with no protection.

[Leadsled]

08:59 PM on 06/30/2011

I didn't think the FTC had any guts whatsoever.

[inthedesert]

07:30 PM on 06/30/2011

I was certain that Suzanne Summers would invent this crap before Nivea...who knew???

[Leah Kaliszewski]

07:27 PM on 06/30/2011

Does anybody really think this stuff works? Come on people, lotion doesn't even soak into the skin, it only interacts with the epidermis- the top layer of the skin. The epidermis is very thin and not very permeable. Thus, there is no benefit in adding any kind of weight loss aid or vitamins to lotion. Lotion just creates a film on the skin that temporarily keeps moisture in.

[SilentSolidarity]

04:06 AM on 07/01/2011

ROFL. I can assure you, 80% in this country don't know what you are talking about. If they knew, companies could never sell us all those poisons as "cosmetics".

[SuZy0925]

10:49 AM on 07/01/2011

You are so right! My dermatologist says skin is like a concrete wall--stuff just can't penetrate it.

[thatgirlinnewyork]

08:24 PM on 07/03/2011

if only that were true! skin is a semi-permeable membrane. as such, it can certainly absorb substances that may have a deleterious affect on the body; for example, e coli has often run off into ocean water from nearby sewer systems after rainstorms. beaches are closed because bacterium like this can cause sickness, shock, even death in someone.

this is why you don't want to buy most commercial "moisturizers", which are often comprised of leftover chemicals from the petroleum trade (vaseline brand, anyone?). there are plenty of consumer products that don't get tested for their "benefits" OR their toxicity--the FTC, FDA, and USDA usually only remove something from the market when they either don't live up to their promises or hurt someone--the wrong time to apply their authority, really.. read up on how what you put on your body rates at: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php

[goodmarina]

06:52 PM on 06/30/2011

well maybe the greasiness of the lotion helps you pull your pants up? 

if anyone really buys into the hype of these products -- they are not going to change their lifestyle anyway.

[Maryjo Fralick]

08:44 PM on 06/30/2011

rofl

[Mrs RAC]

08:45 AM on 07/01/2011

"well maybe the greasiness of the lotion helps you pull your pants up?"

LOL!!! Now that was funny!

[onionboy]

06:52 PM on 06/30/2011

The cream may help lubricate a fat a** to fit into jeans however.

[emulsifier]

11:49 PM on 06/30/2011

lmao.

[onionboy]

01:25 AM on 07/01/2011

That could work too.