A customer today filed a lawsuit against the maker of the popular herbal male enhancement product Enzyte on behalf of purchasers, accusing the company of using false and deceptive advertisements with phony statistics to lure tens of thousands of men into purchasing its supplement.
Filed in Montgomery County Court in Ohio by attorneys from Hagens Berman and Murdock Goldenberg Schneider & Groh, the suit claims Enzyte manufacturer Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals (Berkeley) built a $100 million business that preyed on men using unproven claims.
Once the class-action suit is certified by the court, it would represent Enzyte purchasers across the country. "The ads made repeated unsubstantiated claims with the intention of drawing out and using men's insecurities," said John Murdock, one of the attorneys representing consumers against Berkeley. "In our opinion the primary effect Enzyte had on its users was to shrink the size of their wallets."
Currently running a national advertising campaign using innuendos and a silent "Smiling Bob" spokesperson, Berkeley earlier marketed Enzyte in a nationwide multi-media campaign with claims that the product would actually increase the size of a man's genitalia. Some of the claims from ads in magazines such as Esquire and Gentlemen's Quarterly include:
"The first all-natural male enhancement program that adds one to three inches to your size in just eight months or get double your money back", "100% Safe with a 98.3% Success Rate", " ... your erectile chambers, as well as your penis, will enlarge up to 41%"
When customers tried to take advantage of Berkeley's "double your money back" guarantee, the company sent out confusing and deceptive materials that encouraged customers to waive their right to collect the refund, the suit claims. "We will prove Berkeley depended on the embarrassment of men and complicated return policies to keep the number of refunds low and the amount of profits high," said Murdock. "In my opinion, this is perhaps the most cynical scheme to defraud consumers I've seen."
According to consumer groups including the Better Business Bureau, Berkeley generates a high number of complaints. The Federal Trade Commission has also called into question treatments like Enzyte. According to the agency's Web site, "If the product being pitched to cure impotence is 'herbal' or 'all natural,' dismiss it."