Remember Enzyte and the 'Meet Bob' ads?

[Glocksman]

Now the company founder is on trial for fraud.

Magazine and radio ads for Enzyte made the “male enhancement” pill sound like a sure thing.

The ads featured a glowing customer satisfaction survey, testimonials from happy Enzyte users, a promise of better sex within 30 days and a claim that a Harvard doctor developed the pill’s formula.

But a company executive who helped sell Enzyte says there was a catch:

None of it was true.

James Teegarden Jr., the former vice president of operations at Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, explained Tuesday in U.S. District Court how he and others at the company made up much of the content that appeared in Enzyte ads.

He said employees of the Forest Park company created fictitious doctors to endorse the pills, fabricated a customer satisfaction survey and made up numbers to back up claims about Enzyte’s effectiveness.

“So all this is a fiction?” Judge S. Arthur Spiegel asked about some of the claims.
“That’s correct, your honor,” Teegarden said.

Teegarden’s testimony is key to the case federal prosecutors are making against Berkeley and its founder, Steve Warshak, who is accused of orchestrating a $100 million conspiracy to defraud thousands of customers.

Warshak faces up to 20 years in prison and millions of dollars in penalties if his trial ends with a conviction.

Several other company employees, including Warshak’s mother, Harriet, also are charged with participating in the conspiracy.

Teegarden, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors, said Warshak oversaw the phony ads and every other aspect of Berkeley’s business.
“He was intimately involved with all of it,” Teegarden said. “He knew what was going on in the departments all the time.”

Teegarden said Warshak told him to create two spreadsheets of data to support claims Berkeley was making in Enzyte ads.

One spreadsheet purportedly showed how the pills increased penis size by an average of 24 percent, when in fact no customers had reported such results. Instead, Teegarden said, he made up the numbers.

Another report he created showed customer satisfaction ratings of 96 percent for Enzyte customers. But prosecutors showed jurors an e-mail from Warshak that they said asked Teegarden to fix the numbers.

“Here’s the spreadsheet you wanted,” Teegarden responded via e-mail. “Let me know if you want me to doctor it up some more.”

Jurors saw several magazine ads for Enzyte and other Berkeley products with titles such as “Maximize the Pleasure” and “Harder Than Chinese Arithmetic,” all promising to enhance the sexual experience.

When customers ordered a product, the company’s goal was to keep charging their credit cards for as long as possible, Teegarden said.

He said first-time customers were automatically enrolled in a “continuity program” that sent Enzyte to their homes every month and charged their credit cards without authorization.

“Without continuity, the company wouldn’t exist,” Teegarden said. “It was the sole profit of the business.”

If customers complained, he said, employees were instructed to “make it as difficult as possible” for them to get their money back. In some cases, Teegarden said, Warshak required customers to produce a notarized statement from a doctor certifying Enzyte did not work.

“He said it was extremely unlikely someone would get anything notarized saying they had a small penis,” Teegarden said.

Warshak’s lawyers will not get a chance to cross examine Teegarden until sometime today and they declined to comment on his accusations. Warshak, however, said he did nothing wrong.

“I’m absolutely sure that no crimes occurred at Berkeley,” he said.

Teegarden, however, said Warshak also tried to manipulate data that banks use to determine whether companies should be allowed to accept payment via credit cards.

He said Warshak artificially inflated total sales to offset the high number of customers who sought refunds from credit card companies, a process known as “charge backs.”

If more than 1 percent of its customers sought charge backs, Berkeley could have lost its ability to do business via credit cards.

To avoid that, Teegarden said, Berkeley began making small, unauthorized charges to thousands of customer credit cards. The charges were later refunded by the company, but they temporarily boosted total sales and reduced the percentage of charge backs.

Teegarden said the continued use of credit cards was so important because Berkeley relied almost entirely on them.

Without them, he said, “we would be out of business.”

[Phantasee]

Oh, that snake bastard. I knew he was a fucking sham! There's no way a guy could smile that much naturally.

[Rogue 9]

So does this mean they'll fucking stop running those goddamned ads?

[Glocksman]

So does this mean they'll fucking stop running those goddamned ads?

They still run the ads?
I haven't seen one in over a year, but then again my broadcast media exposure these days consists largely of the History Channel on TV and XM Radio in the car.

[Rogue 9]

So does this mean they'll fucking stop running those goddamned ads?

They still run the ads?
I haven't seen one in over a year, but then again my broadcast media exposure these days consists largely of the History Channel on TV and XM Radio in the car.

Yes, they do.

[FireNexus]

Enzyte never claimed that it would make your penis bigger. In fact, sometimes I like to call the number and ask "How mcuh larger will this make my penis?" The response has always been "Enzyte does not increase the size of your penis. It only helps to give you harder, firmer erections."

Of course, they heavily imply until directly asked that it does increase your size. Regardless, these fuckers are snake oil shilling bastards, and I hope they get nailed to the fucking wall.

[Eris]

The company had the word "Nutraceuticals" in the name and people couldn't figure out there was something seriously scammy going on?

That beyond, y'know, that it's a penis enlargement product. I certainly don't approve of despicable advertising, but you'd think people would have a little sense when it came to this sort of thing.

[Glocksman]

You'd think so, but a lot of people apparently think it's the FDA's job to keep deceptive 'neutraceuticals' off of the market.
I'm not 100% certain, but I'll bet the assholes marketed Enzyte as a 'dietary supplement' instead of as a drug.

Here's some information about the weak regulation so called 'supplements' are held to.

[Zablorg]

I always wondered what would happen if my spam box went professional. I think this also says something about TV ads influence on people compared to simple text. If you receive an e-mail full of such testimonies, you're still not going to take it seriously.

[Adrian Laguna]

I always hated those ads, just looking at "Bob's" plastic overlarge grin made my face hurt. I concluded that Enzyte has Joker Venom as part of its composition.

[Glocksman]

I always hated those ads, just looking at "Bob's" plastic overlarge grin made my face hurt. I concluded that Enzyte has Joker Venom as part of its composition.

I thought the ads were a clever parody of 1950's stereotypes, but I never considered buying Enzyte for the simple reason that I've never had any complaints.

[Covenant]

That's hilarious. I never believed this garbage for a minute and I love the fact that it was so blatantly a lie. Maybe this will finally get people off the bullshit. I'd love to do something like this just to debunk an entire industry, and then give people their money back with interest.

[mingo]

Honestly, with so many "dietary supplements", the pitch is "They" don't want you to know this works" Look at Viagra, when they had something that worked, they SOLD it and made BILLIONS. If there was a pill to make your dick bigger, Smith/Klien or Glaxo or SOMEBODY would sell it, no matter how unnecessary it is.

[Havok]

Honestly, with so many "dietary supplements", the pitch is "They" don't want you to know this works" Look at Viagra, when they had something that worked, they SOLD it and made BILLIONS. If there was a pill to make your dick bigger, Smith/Klien or Glaxo or SOMEBODY would sell it, no matter how unnecessary it is.

No shit. If there was one that actually worked, the gov would classify it a top national security interest, then market the damn thing and pay off the national debt... FOREVER!

[Mr Bean]

I used to love theses Commercials, because the damn tune was so catchy I'd catch myself whistling it from time to time.

Also as I mentioned elsewhere, in 2005 G-4(Then TV for Gamers) was one of four stations we could get on the ops floor, the others being CNN, MSNBC, Fox and G-4 for some odd reason.

One thing we noticed after 170 hours of watching those four channels is that after mid-night G-4 dropped to exactly five commercials. One was Girls gone wild video's. Two was a preview of one of G-4 shows, three was a local car dealer, four was whatever the latest video game was, and it was only one game, but it changed from time to time. While the fifth one was for Enyzime. And it was in order, first Commercials break Commercials 1,2,3 second break 3,4, third break 5,1,2. Every once in awhile they would mix it up, but it was always like that for the six months we were there on mid-shifts.

[Falkenhorst]

I got a kick out of the "Sack Full of Pride" line in the christmas themed ad, but that's because I'm easily amused. They ran that one so much in the last 2 months that it's a punchline around my house now.

[Darth Wong]

Scammers always prey on the weak and pitiful, and these guys are no exception. Just try to imagine the kind of sad-sack (no pun intended) loser who is so desperate for a penis enlargement pill that he ignores every reputable medical source on the subject and pays money to some obvious scam like this.

[Alan Bolte]

Mingo, your sig is both hilariously appropriate and made of win. For a moment I thought it was part of your post.

[Gil Hamilton]

Whoa whoa whoa... whoa... you mean a "male enhancement" product turned out to be snake oil and the people producing it were committing fraud?! NO! I'm shocked beyond all belief!

[Invictus ChiKen]

No shit. If there was one that actually worked, the gov would classify it a top national security interest, then market the damn thing and pay off the national debt... FOREVER!

Or until we get another Bush...

I know little of science myself. But I always go with the silver rule of if it sounds to good to be true, be skeptical.

[Napoleon the Clown]

"A fool and his money are soon parted."


I am by no means shocked by this, just like everyone else. How long before someone else pulls this kind of stunt, preying on people's insecurities over the size of one body part or the other?

[Patrick Degan]

I'd thought the patent-medicine business was long dead and buried.

[mingo]

I'd thought the patent-medicine business was long dead and buried.

No, all you have to do is call it a "dietary supplement". That said, a few of them actually work, red yeast rice does keep my cholesterol within normal limits.

On, and I've had that tagline a while but I did think about how it fit here

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

GUILTY!

Enzyte Maker Found Guilty of Fraud

4 days ago

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal court jury on Friday found the owner of a company that sells "male enhancement" tablets and other herbal supplements guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Steve Warshak, whose conviction was reported Friday by The Cincinnati Enquirer, is founder and president of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, which distributes Enzyte and a number of products alleged to boost energy, manage weight, reduce memory loss and aid restful sleep.

Television ads for Enzyte feature "Smiling Bob," a goofy, grinning man whose life gets much better after he uses the product, which allegedly boosted his sexual performance.

Warshak, 40, could face more than 20 years in prison and his company could have to forfeit tens of millions of dollars.

Messages seeking comment from Warshak's Boston attorney Martin Weinberg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Porter were left at their offices Friday night.

Prosecutors claimed customers were bilked out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and the company's refusal to accept returns or cancel orders. They said unauthorized credit card charges generated thousands of complaints over unordered products.

Warshak's mother, Harriett Warshak, also was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering.

The government also alleged the defendants obstructed investigations by two federal agencies.

Some former employees, including relatives of Warshak, pleaded guilty to other charges and cooperated with prosecutors. They testified that the company created fictitious doctors to endorse the pills, fabricated a customer-satisfaction survey and made up numbers to back claims about Enzyte's effectiveness.

Defense lawyers characterized that testimony as tainted because it was forced by the threat of prosecution.

The defense contended in the trial that Berkeley suffered from customer service that didn't keep pace with the company's rapid growth from a one-person startup in 2001 to 1,500 employees in 2004.

Weinberg also had told jurors that Berkeley had been targeted by the government in "a relentless criminal investigation."
On the Net:

* Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals: http://www.berkeleylife.com