I am a reference librarian at a public library. A month ago, a patron asked me to find the information referred to in the TV commercial for the weight loss drug CortiSlim.in the commercial, Dr. Greg Cynaumon states that "Dr. Talbott's hormone research is featured in Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, and Psychology Today". Our library has access to a huge database of indexed magazine articles in which all three of these magazines are included, but after diligently searching I could find no indication that they had ever had a magazine article in them that contained the words "Talbott" and "hormone".
I used the website for Cortislim - http://www.cortislim.com - and submitted my question to them using the "contact us" button. I received a prompt reply from Katie Baek, who told me that she did not have access to the transcripts of the commercial, and that I should do a little research on the web to find out that information.in my reply, I thanked her and said that the library patron had specifically asked for the magazine articles mentioned, and that if she could not help me to forward my question on to someone who can.
Well, I did do a little research on the web, and found out that Dr. Cynaumon is a FAMILY THERAPIST, a far cry from a medical doctor. I also found two email addresses for Dr. Shawn Talbott and contacted him with my question. One message was returned with a "bad address" note, the other has gone unanswered for a month, as has my request to Katie Baek at www.cortislim.com to transfer my request to someone else.
I also emailed the three magazines and asked them to get back in touch with me if they could provide the information. Since they have not, I assume that they were not able to find the articles either.
Having seen the TV commercials myself, and listening carefully, I believe that what Dr. Cynaumon is referring to is ADVERTISEMENTS in these magazines, not actual articles, since he says the research is "featured" in the magazines. As an information professional, I feel this is terrifically misleading and gives the product CortiSlim an illusion of respectability. Granted, I do not use the product myself and it may be the best thing since sliced bread, but if it is Dr. Cynaumon should not need to allude to glowing reports in popular magazines to sell it.
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