This is embarrassing.
A Corporate public relations nightmare.
Incompetence at a very high degree.
I suppose it makes it more incredible and shocking that GlaxoSmithKline was caught in a lie about the ingredients of its product by two 14 year old girls in high school chemistry class.
Ribena caught out by schoolgirls
How does a product get approved, manufactured, marketed and sold without someone asking if it really is what it is?
Where are the controls and communication between the production, the executive office and the marketing people?
What responsibility does marketing have to verify information and take responsibility for misleading the consumer?
This is fraud and unethical behaviour at an enormous level or incompetence at ridiculous proportions.
Adding insult to injury is the fine of USD $ 156,000.00 and an apology by GSK as the remedy.
Seems like a very small slap on the wrist for fraudulent advertising, incompetence and deceiving the public.
Perhaps that small risk and penalty is what drove them to take the decision to lie in the first place?
Related Links
CNN- Ribena caught out by schoolgirls
“What responsibility does marketing have to verify information and take responsibility for misleading the consumer?
This is fraud and unethical behaviour at an enormous level or incompetence at ridiculous proportions.” – I agree.
What I can’t stomach is the fact that medical experts(!) and their retinues have been proclaiming for decades that obesity is caused by overeating and mitigated by eating fewer calories than the body requires. – This is manifestly untrue. – Obese people do NOT lose weight by eating fewer calories. – They DO lose weight – easily and swiftly – by cutting down on salt/sodium, or indeed by avoiding it altogether, because obesity is actually caused by fluid retention, which in turn is caused by salt sensitivity, the most severe cases of which are caused by prescribed steroids, HRT, and certain other drugs when prescribed inappropriately or in too high a dose, as happens all too often.
And now we have GSK with a ‘slimming’ drug – with a host of adverse side-effects lying in wait – they will soon be marketing… – Absolutely unnecessary. – All that is necessary is for people to be told the truth about the causes of obesity and the best ways to reduce it.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! – Try it! – You will feel so much better!
See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or
adverts – just helpful information.)
Health should not be in the deceitful, guilty. money-grubbing hands of big business…
“Perhaps that small risk and penalty is what drove them to take the decision to lie in the first place?”
Unfortunately that’s exactly it. As long as the penalties are lower than the profit – for unethical managers the answer is easy. Plus the fact that those managers are actually rewarded.
Thanks, always good posts on your blog!