TV pitchman extraordinaire Kevin Trudeau has been found in contempt of court by a federal judge in Illinois.
Trudeau, author of the best-selling book "Weight Loss Cures They Don't Want You to Know About," hawks his books in seemingly ubiquitous late-night television infomercials.
But U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ruled Friday that Trudeau had "misled thousands of consumers" in the ads by making claims that are "patently false." A hearing to determine Trudeau's penalty, and the future of his advertising, has not yet been set. FTC attorney Laureen Kapin said the agency will ask the judge to make Trudeau provide "consumer redress," which might ulimtately include financial compensation for book purchasers.
Trudeau, who also wrote the best-seller "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About," makes ambitious claims about a weight loss program in his new book. Readers are instructed to follow a set of "protocols," including obtaining a series of colonics, a daily hormone injection, eating only organic foods, and at one point slimming food intake down to 500 calories a day.
In seeking the contempt of court ruling, the Federal Trade Commission argued that Trudeau’s infomercials violate a court order he signed in 2004 prohibiting him from making misleading claims in television ads.
In the weight loss commercials, Trudeau repeatedly tells viewers that it's easy to follow his diet regimen. He also says that those who follow his diet can eventually eat whatever foods they like.
Gettleman found both statements to be misleading.
"Mr. Trudeau states ad nauseum in his infomercials that his diet is ‘easy.’ As the FTC points out, the dietary regimen prescribed by the weight loss book is anything but," he wrote. In the commercials, Trudeau "fails to mention that the diet requires 15 colonics in a 30-day period and a 500-calorie per day limit necessitating a physician's supervision," the judge said.
Trudeau's lawyers argued that his commercials represent only Trudeau’s opinion, which is protected by the First Amendment. They also argued that a certain degree of “puffing," or hyperbole, is standard in advertising.
'Easy' is not an opinion
But Gettleman found that the word "easy" is not an opinion, but rather an advertising term with legal meaning. And he noted that the U.S. Supreme Court found in 1949 that advertisements claiming dieters can "easily" shed pounds "without torturous diet" were misleading when the actual dieting program was misrepresented.
"Mr. Trudeau is simply incorrect that the term 'easy' is always puffing or an expression of opinion," he said.
David Bradford, Trudeau's personal lawyer, said the author will comply with the court's ruling.
"Mr. Trudeau respectfully disagrees with the Court's ruling, but intends to comply with it while seeking to vindicate his First Amendment rights," Bradford said.
In his ruling, the judge found Trudeau’s claim in the ad that he can now eat anything he wants, including mashed potatoes and gravy "loaded with fat,” to be misleading. He noted that in his book, Trudeau writes that dieters must follow a strict eating regime "for the rest of your life."
"How Mr. Trudeau was able to eat a 'big' portion of prime rib 'marbled with fat' and a 'big hot fudge sundae with real ice cream, real hot fudge, real nuts and real whipped cream' and still follow (the regimen) remains a mystery,” Gettleman said. “As far as this court can tell, it is impossible. More importantly, though, it is misleading, and it misrepresents the contact of his book in flagrant violation of this court's order."
Gettleman also dismissed the argument that Trudeau was entitled to First Amendment protection in the book and infomercial. Specifically, as commercial speech, the TV ad is not protected speech, the judge noted.
In September, Trudeau's lawyer defended the infomercials in an interview with MSNBC.com.
"The advertising has been airing for many months. There are no complaints about it," he said at the time. "There are no consumers’ complaints of any consequence that we're aware of."
He said the Trudeau has a First Amendment right to say anything he wants in the book, and by extension, in the infomercial.
"Whether he's right or wrong is for the public to decide, not the government," he said.
