Quackery. That seems like it could be a word for the week, doesn't it? "Quackery" derives from the word quacksalver (someone who boasts about his salves). Modern usage has the word "quack" as roughly synonymous with charlatan, that is, someone who pretends to more knowledge or skill than he or she posses.
Quackery is all over the place, but I may as well focus on books. I presume you all have some familiarity with Kevin Trudeau. You know, that guy that is constantly on infomercials peddling his "Natural Cures", and other related material. His Natural Cures book has sold more than 3 million copies and remained on The New York Times best-seller list for over nine weeks. He routinely states false information, and wants people to believe the system is against them. Example: "Drug companies do not want people to be healthy; they do not want to cure disease." The problem is people are buying this stuff, and books are a medium in which he is easily allowed to get away with it because of protections granted by freedom of speech laws.
Another, albeit slightly less clear, example is Robert Kiyosaki's self-help/financial advice kingdom. He is best known for his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad book. Combined his books have sold over 26 million copies. At the end of a 20/20 segment on him, they ask, "Does anyone really need 18 books to learn how to fail?" Before you pick up one of his books I urge you to at least read this article: http://www.slate.com/id/2067175/
Any more examples of quackery that you might be familiar with should be amusing to see.
1 comment:
Quackery - I think my favorite example of this would be diet pills. The best offer now is at: eatallyouwantandstillloseweight.com. They boast that you can eat all the food you want and still lose weight. "And they couldn't say it on TV if it weren't true." <-favorite part, because EVERYTHING we see on TV is true. I want to call them and be like "Oh really, what does the FDA say?" Oh, you aren't FDA approved?
Is the country even smart enough to make see if diet pills on the market are FDA approved to do the things they claim they do. I remember a time when diet pills were at least honest and admitted they hadn't been approved by the FDA. Now, this "Eat All You Want and Still Lose Weight" gimmick comes along, negates the FDA and asserts, as long as it is on TV (or, oh god, on the interweb), it MUST be true.
Sell crazy somewhere else buddy, we're all stocked up here.
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