Wu-Yi Woo.

I have a custom Google home page set up, complete with a theme of a cute little fox going about his business as the day goes on. (He appears to live in Eastern Asia.) One of the items on my page is a Dictionary Search, set to use the Cambridge Dictionary. Little ads appear below it, which are easily ignored, though one of them caught my eye. "Amazing Weight Loss Secret!" or some such nonsense. So….

*Click*

What followed was a page describing the wonders of Wu-Yi Tea. Yet another in a long line of products which look promising, but really, promise nothing and deliver nothing. Let's see why.

Non-Claims / Use of the word "May". - Most products that are scams will make very vague claims about what they do. May promote weight loss. May boost the immune system. May promote better health. Sure, it may do any or all of those things, but does it? The use of the word 'may' means that the product claims to do… nothing. There is the possibility that the tea will have particular properties that have a certain effect, but the hard claim that it does, is simply not there. In short, the marketers of Wu-Yi Tea do not actually claim that it has any effect. There is no clinical evidence or controlled study supplied that shows a definite effect of any of this product, though there is a reference to a study by one doctor at one location. Not exactly what I would call definitive. I will do some research, though, of this doctor and institution, and see if I can dig up the study in question. I will update this post as necessary. (Gotta do your research, if you really want to be a skeptic.)

My scalp sweat may cure impotence. It doesn't. But it might. Wanna buy some?

Multiple Disclaimers. - First I want to say something about disclaimers in general. Note the word: Dis-Claim-Er. The word itself means that the following information will contradict, or at least contraindicate, the previously made claims. Disclaimers in general tend to follow similar patterns as displayed on the Wu-Yi website. If you read the disclaimer carefully, you will find that the product does not need to have any effect at all, in order for the disclaimer to apply. In other words, with the disclaimer provided, the product doesn't have to do anything. The net effect can be 0, and the product provider has an out. Think about this the next time you read a disclaimer.

Having said that, I want to point out a couple specific things about this particular product. Please notice that along the side of the page, where the various testimonials and before/after pictures are, each are followed by a disclaimer that says three very specific things. First, that the results are not typical. Again, the tea does not make a specific claim of fat or weight loss, so the weight loss results shown in the testimonials are not typical results of drinking the tea. Second, the disclaimer notes that in addition to drinking the tea, the people in the testimonials followed an exercise and diet regimen. The weight loss is easily attributable to this, rather than the tea. Third, the disclaimer states that "individuals have been remunerated." To save you the trouble of grabbing the dictionary, remunerated means 'paid'. These people were paid, quite well according to the website itself, which states that if you send in your success story, and pictures, then you can be paid up to $1,000 for your participation. I would also suggest that this would be a fairly significant motivator to lose weight, and probably a factor in the various success stories displayed on the website.

Marketing Tactics - When any health product is advertised, there is a certain amount of marketing involved. When marketing pharmaceuticals and other products to those of us who cannot buy them directly, a positive lifestyle or situation is often displayed, such as a happy couple on the beach, or a family gathering at the dinner table, with the assumption that we will want to identify with that lifestyle, and go to our doctors to ask for our prescriptions to be changed. Other products, such as traditional cold and cough medicines, are usually advertised by showing a transition between sickness and health. If you feel like this (sick), take our product and you will feel like this (well). It's simple, but effective advertising.

Wu-Yi Tea is non-prescription, so the first tactic does not apply. The second is applied in the testimonials and pictures of happy, athletic looking people. But there are other, more interesting tactics used, that I think bear significant mention.

First, is the appeal to act quickly. This is accomplished in several different ways. First, an offer is extended to obtain a sample of the tea at no cost. The offer is only for a limited time, of course. It only lasts for a few days, and you must act quickly to take advantage of it. I noticed when I visited the site for the first time, that the offer was two days old already, and today was the last day. I did nothing, of course, and went back to the site the next day. I noticed that they claimed to have a technological problem with the website, and that as a result, the offer was open for one more day. I found that interesting, so I went back the next day, and found the same result. The offer was open for one more day. In fact, after a month, I visited the site again, and found that it was still the 'last day' of this offer. The site no longer claimed a technical issue, but had reverted to the previous wording. It seems that no matter when you visit the site, it's always the LAST DAY of this offer.

Another way they attempt to ratchet up the pressure to act quickly is employed after you fill out the little qualifying survey to see if Wu-Yi is right for you. I'll take this as an aside to the current topic. I did the survey three times. Once, I entered accurate information, and the site stated that Wu-Yi was right for me. The second time, I entered information indicating I wanted to lose over 100 pounds in one month. Again, I was a 'perfect candidate' for the free sample. Finally, I entered information indicating that I wanted to *GAIN* 20 pounds, going from 140 lbs to 160 lbs on a 4'7" frame. Once again, I was a perfect candidate. My conclusion on this is that no matter what you put in there, you will be given an opportunity to purchase, or obtain your free sample of, the tea.

After you finish the survey, however, you are brought to a screen where you can enter your information, and a countdown applet. The countdown is supposed to show how many free samples are left. You are given a few minutes to make your decision, and then all the free samples will be gone. So the time limit for the offer is reduced from hours, depending on what time of day you visit the site, to minutes. This further increases the pressure to take advantage of the offer. Interestingly enough, the counter stops at -1, rather than 0. Apparently the free sample kits are on back-order…

So in conclusion, we have a product that makes no hard and specific claims, pays for it's testimonials, does not show any scientifically tested results, does not adequately screen its users, and uses several questionable marketing tactics. I don't trust it, and neither should you.

And that's *my* claim.