If you thought faux news was the province of only The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and The Onion, welcome to News 13 WKTV. It is the non-TV station, non-news Web site that reports on Resveratrol Ultra. And it is not the only fake station. Move up the Internet dial and you will find News 29 Online. There, a reporter named Alice Avaleece uses almost the exact same language to tout Acai Essence as fake-WKTV’s Cathy Diaz does to describe Resveratrol Ultra:
“Usually as a reporter I find products that are “too good to be true” and report on how they didn’t live up to their claims. I can say with the utmost certainty that this is a feel good story for the “ages”!”
Suspicious? So are the people at the real WKTV, which operates Channel 2 in Rochester, N.Y. They might be interested to know that Ms. Diaz also appears on another URL, http://abc360news.com. Look closely at the faux-anchors atop the Web pages of both faux stations and you might see the same face twice. You will definitely notice that the stories on the pages have only minor differences; for example, Cathy in New York is 35 and Alice in Florida is 33 .
The two fake TV Web sites share product links to Resveratrol Ultra. The site has more product information and this disclaimer: “Resveratrol Ultra is not affiliated in any way with CNN, FOX, WebMD, ABC, FORTUNE, NBC or CNN.”
Who owns the two Web sites? News 13 is a mystery, but a “Who Is” search of News 29 shows that the registrant is XM Brands and the administrative contact is Issa Asad. Both have an address of 3609 N. 29th Ave., Hollywood, Florida. There the trail gets confusing. Acai Essence is sold by a company in the West Indies and Resveratrol Ultra by a company in Cyprus.
Search Google for “XM Brands” and the first page of results has a number of uncomplimentary entries, including an “F” rating dated October 2008 from the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean. Search for “Issa Asad” and “acai” and you can find Acai XM, where the same “Dr. Perricone” who pronounces the benefits of Acai Essence also recommends Acai XM.
As they say in the TV news business, “Stay tuned.”
About Joel Rothman
Joel B. Rothman represents clients in intellectual property infringement litigation involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, defamation, trade libel, unfair competition, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and commercial matters. Joel’s litigation practice also includes significant focus on electronic discovery issues such as e-discovery management and motion practice relating to e-discovery.
Glad to see that “News 13 WKTV” site has been pulled. What a fraud. I tripped across it research reservatrol after Dr. Oz talked about it. The News 29 site is slightly better camouflaged, but still a fraud.