The “Taco Bell” Facelift

Whenever I see a surgical procedure that is patented, I cringe, expecting a marketing ploy devised by a slick doctor and an even slicker publicist. A case in point is a type of facelift that is getting a lot of press lately. The procedure shall remain nameless, but those of you who follow trends in plastic surgery know what I’m talking about – you’ve heard the television infomercials and advertisements (bad sign), seen the cute logo and the catchy name (another bad sign) and heard about the incredibly low fees (a really bad sign).

The way this procedure is presented to the general public has so many things wrong with it I don’t know where to start. First of all, it is difficult to determine from the information available to the public what the procedure is – is the “facial firming” that’s promised a surgical or non-surgical procedure? Who knows?

The “facial firming” procedure is described as a breakthrough that is so unique that it warrants its own patent. In truth, the procedure was described by a Belgian surgeon in the 1990’s. The American surgeon who “patented” it simply took the Belgian surgeon’s procedure, changed the name, hired a publicist and away he went.

It turns out that the procedure is actually a mini-facelift performed under local anesthesia, not unlike the first facelift performed over 100 years ago. The only difference between that early facelift performed in Berlin in 1901 and the new, patented lift is use of two permanent purse string sutures – of course, this technique was also borrowed from the Belgian surgeon.

Another aspect of this that is obvious to surgeons, but perhaps not to the general public, is that surgical procedures cannot be franchised, like a Taco Bell. Surgical skills are honed over years; one cannot just walk into a clinic and walk up to the counter and say, “I’d like a facelift and I’ll take whichever surgeon that’s not busy today”.

The following is an interesting article that applies to this subject:

Facelift firm placed bogus online reviews

By JENNIFER PELTZ (AP) – 2 days ago

NEW YORK (AP) — The online journal gave a chatty account of a problem-free face lift. "You will never regret it," the patient wrote.

But the seemingly satisfied customer actually was an employee of the firm behind the Lifestyle Lift, writing as part of a company campaign to plant plugs for the procedure online, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in announcing a $300,000 settlement with the company Tuesday.

His office said the settlement appeared to be one of the first to address so-called astroturf marketing, or creating a bogus grassroots buzz about a product.

Troy, Mich.-based Lifestyle Lift Inc. said its informational material now accurately reflects actual patients' comments and is clearly labeled as coming from the company.
"We want to be acknowledged as a model of integrity and accuracy," company President Gordon Quick said in a statement.

Widely advertised through television infomercials as a relatively quick and inexpensive form of face lift, the Lifestyle Lift has been performed on more than 100,000 people since 2001, according to the company. It's affiliated with a network of doctors in New York and 21 other states.

The company has aggressively guarded its online reputation. In 2007, it sued an Arizona man who maintained a consumer-oriented Web site that included criticisms of Lifestyle Lift, saying the site's use of the procedure's name infringed on the company's trademark and amounted to false advertising. A federal judge in Michigan dismissed the case last year, saying the site was commentary protected by the First Amendment.

But Lifestyle Lift also came up with another new way to fight back: Having staffers post glowing reviews, comments and testimonials that appeared to come from clients.
"I need you to devote the day to doing more postings on the Web as a satisfied client," employees were told in one internal e-mail, according to the attorney general's office. Another internal message directed a worker to "put your wig and skirt on and tell them about the great experience you had."

The disguised workers did that and more, sometimes pushing to get message boards to remove critical posts and even setting up pro-Lifestyle Lift Web sites that masqueraded as independent views, Cuomo's office said. The postings dated back to early 2007, the attorney general's office said.

One such site featured a detailed "journal," stretching from a first consultation to two months after the procedure, and included photos and an exhortation to "GO FOR IT." Another supposed first-person account came complete with the names of the writer's children.

"This company's attempt to generate business by duping consumers was cynical, manipulative and illegal," Cuomo said in a release. He said the tactics violated consumer protection laws.
Lifestyle Lift said Tuesday the disputed endorsements were "representative of" real patients' comments but acknowledged they weren't rendered verbatim or labeled as coming from the company.

The company, which said it has since changed management, will pay the state $300,000 in penalties and costs. The settlement came as the attorney general's office investigated the company's practices, without any litigation in court.

The Federal Trade Commission is working on revising its nearly 30-year-old guidelines on the use of testimonials and endorsements to reflect the growth of online marketing. The review comes amid heightened attention to the role blogs and Internet comments can now play in a product's fortunes.

In the meantime, the American Advertising Federation, an industry group, has its own guidelines specifying that testimonials "shall be limited to those of competent witnesses who are reflecting a real and honest opinion or experience."

"We think the consumer has the right to know that an advertisement is an advertisement," spokesman Clark Rector said.