Groupon rapped for selling snake oil

Snake with thought bubble, Shutterstock

Britain's Advertising Standards Agency has banned Groupon from marketing snake oil.

An internet sales promotion for "Wrinkle Killer Snake Serum" promised to "reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles" and "tackle the signs of ageing." When challenged, Groupon claimed that the claims refer only to the "sensory and/or temporary effects of the product's application". The ASA ruled that they were "misleading and could not be substantiated," and could not be made again. It also ordered Groupon not to make future efficacy claims without substantiation.

The product, sold in lipstick-sized containers for £119($170), is advertised online with even more fanciful language: "Wrinkle Killer Snake Serum, uses a combination of oxygen and a formula replicating the Temple Viper’s venom to inhibit muscle contractions therefore reducing wrinkles."

Such products may fail science class, but are not without advocates. Britain's highly-respected Daily Mail newspaper described the creams as "the latest antidote to wrinkles" in an unbylined report whose primary source was a manager at a department store that sells them.

• [@martynkelly]

  Great article, but there is an error: -  “Britain’s highly-respected Daily Mail newspaper”. Britain respects the Daily Mail about as much as America respects the National Enquirer.

  • [Robert Baruch]

    “Britain’s highly-respected _______ newspaper” was, is, and always shall be sarcasm. (with tip of hat to Xeni)

  • [Nathan Hornby]

    Sarcasm.  From a Brit, to a Brit.  You shouldn’t be confused here.

    @Robert Baruch Why does Xeni get credit for something Rob said?

    • [Robert Baruch]

      You’re absolutely right. It should be a tip of the hat to Maggie (see http://boingboing.net/2012/01/24/a-view-inside-a-nuclear-reacto.html#disqus_thread ). I would suck at Boing Boing Trivial Pursuit.

      And I’m giving Maggie credit for what I said, not what Rob said. Which can be confusing, because I’m also Rob.

• [VonWatters]

  “highly-respected” – AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…*gasp*. Oh you.

  Edit: I assume everyone’s seen the “big list of things the Daily Heil says cause/cure cancer”:
  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=269512464297&v=info

• [kevbo1983]

  LOL, might want to add a sarcasm tag.  Seems some people don’t understand it.

• [bazzargh]

  Not there, because its facebook only. But http://kill-or-cure.heroku.com/ has been documenting their work on the bleeding edge of medicine for a couple of years now

• [tristan eldritch]

  I’m glad to see them going after the snake-oil sales-men, but how about those restaurants that have started charging for the sound of the stake cooking, whilst withholding the very beef itself?

• [Adrian Martin]

  Groupon push those stupid magnetic bracelets as well..

  • [Nathan Hornby]

    I stopped using Groupon when I couldn’t find the ‘snake-oil kill switch’.  I was referring to it as that when I was seeing these bracelets, amusing to see they’re actually selling snake oil.

  • [Jorpho]

    Groupon and similar deal sites seem to be increasingly overrun with quack medicine products.  (That, and cheap stuff from Hong Kong billed as being sold at a vastly exaggerated discount.)  It seems legitimate businesses have gotten wise to the utility of group discounts.

• [Michael Spencer]

  Excuse me whilst I rage. DAILY MAIL IS NOT RESPECTED. I get that your statement might be sarcasm but I just want to make my point.

  • [Rob Beschizza]

    TROLLFACE

• [Jim Smith]

  It may not be respected but its website recently overtook the NY Times as the top (ie most hits/unique users) newspaper website in the world.

  I despair.

• [TooGoodToCheck]

  Literal snake oil salesmen?  Wow.  That is so retro it’s almost charming

• [Guest]

  Now, don’t go slamming the Daily Mail. Cory has been known to use it as a “reputable” source.

• [Nathan Hornby]

  I think that you’ve learnt your lesson Rob.

  The BoingBoing community may be awesome, smart and liberal – but they don’t understand humour.

  • [IronEdithKidd]

    It’s something of an in joke at this point, of course the n00bs don’t get it.  The usual suspects are rather silent so far, though. 
     
    Daily Fail.  Respected.  ROFLcopters, that.

• [Andrew Molloy]

  Actually something else in news today relating to Daily Mail and for once I’m on the side of the Daily Mail. A TV psychic is suing them for defamation of character! 
  http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=48632&c=1

• [Genre Slur]

  … for not selling snake-oil? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something
  article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026931/