Anyone with an email account has probably received a variety of crudely worded spam messages touting herbal products that promise everything from flat out “better sex” to male and female enhancement. Sure, these messages are annoying but if everyone deletes these messages without a second thought, why do new, similarly themed messages continue to flood our inboxes? Simple: Somebody is buying these products, hence the ongoing gorilla marketing campaign.

“The ‘spam campaign’ is a disgraceful, dishonest onslaught of greed for green. It preys on sexual insecurities, total fantasy and mostly out right fraud,” exclaimed Marcus Laux, ND, a licensed naturopathic physician clinically trained in acupuncture, homeopathy, physical medicine, and coauthor of Natural Woman, Natural Menopause (HarperCollins) and Top Ten Natural Therapies (Basic Health Publications). “The claims made in the endless versions of penis enlargement pill promises…are targeting the uninformed, curious, shy and insecure with the promise of something that does not exist anywhere in any form. The amount of advertising may cause somebody who does not know the facts to actually believe that maybe this is something that can work.”

“Spammers, just like other snake oil salesman, rely on there being enough desperate or gullible consumers to make a profit,” noted Richard Cleland, assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) division of advertising practices. “Given that they invest nothing in scientific research and the products cost them nearly nothing, it doesn’t take many consumers to make the business profitable.”

Dr. Laux concurred, and added that this type of marketing casts a broad net that all too often snares unwitting consumers. “The trend is most folks are turning away from drugs, when possible. The green movement has been growing for years, with searching for less polluting energy, buying organic produce versus their GMO chemical cousins, using traditional herbal medicines versus synthetic drugs for safer, gentler treatment; undergoing acupuncture needles rather than the stainless steel scalpel, and so on,” he said. “People have less trust in the pharmaceutical agenda, the doctors’ all knowingness, and big medicine’s ability to provide real and honest cures. And, folks know that drugs — even the best-of-class — are guaranteed to come with the risk of major side effects. This can include things like blindness, migraine and liver failure.”

“The appeal of a nutritional supplement being available to support their need is quite high, and if scientifically created correctly and ethically and legally manufactured, they can be helpful in so many cases in health support, improvement, and recovery,” he continued. “But, nutritional supplements in most all cases do not work as fast as a synthetic drug. Any claims to the contrary are just not true, but marketing sizzling, untrue copy is designed to trick the innocent, gullible, and the desperate.”

Who’s Minding the Web?

The only thing worse than money-thieving spam campaigns is the unscrupulous marketing of dangerous products. In December, FDA stepped in to warn consumers about an array of natural sexual enhancement products that turned out to contain undeclared active ingredients used in prescription erectile dysfunction drugs.

The products — Super Shangai, Strong Testis, Shangai Ultra, Shangai Ultra X, Lady Shangai, and Shangai Regular (also marketed as Shangai Chaojimengnan) — originated out of China and promised to alleviate erectile dysfunction (ED) and enhance sexual experiences. This is probably because they contained undeclared sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, which may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs (such as nitroglycerin) and can lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. They are illegal because they lack FDA approval and are considered especially dangerous because the manufacturing source of the active ingredients is unknown, further invalidating the safety, efficacy and purity of the ingredients.

Consumers with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease often take nitrates. ED is a common problem in men with these medical conditions. Because they may have been advised against taking ED drugs, they may seek out products like these because they are marketed as “all natural” or as not containing the active ingredients in approved, prescribed ED drugs. “Products like these put consumers at considerable risk because they contain undeclared active ingredients in FDA approved drugs that require a prescription to obtain,” said Janet Woodcock, MD, FDA’s deputy commissioner for scientific and medical programs, chief medical officer, and acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). “An unsuspecting consumer with underlying medical issues may buy and take these products without knowing that they can cause serious drug interactions.”

With all of the dubious herbal products being anonymously marketed through email and abounding on the Internet, it’s worth noting that the FTC does not collect information on the number of sexual enhancement products being sold via email, nor does it maintain a watch list of fraudulent products. However, in November 2007, the agency issued a comprehensive report on spam, which can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/12/spam.shtm It also developed a spam advice page at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/tech/spam.shtm.

“In addition to publishing consumer education material, we enforce the requirements of the CAN-SPAM law and the FTC Act,” commented Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s division of advertising practices. “The requirements of the CAN-SPAM act are set out in detail at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm. The basic requirement of the FTC Act is that advertising claims must be truthful and substantiated.”

Dr. Laux said claims like “added inches” and “fast, rapid results,” especially claims that invoke trashy, titillating, and sleazy verbiage should trigger a knee-jerk reaction that if something sounds too good to be true, it almost always is. Plus if the offer arrives as unsolicited spam, it’s wise to concede to the judgment of your computer’s spam filter and delete the message.

Improved sexual health is the result of an overall health and wellness building process. “Our sexual health is an offshoot of our total health, from nutritional status, circulatory, hormonal and nervous system, including both the sympathetic excitatory and the parasympathetic pleasure components,” Dr. Laux said. “Change your lifestyle, and you can change your life. By significantly committing to improve your diet and habits, your body can dramatically improve, and regain better function. Our age is chronological and biological. We can’t change the years, but we can shift the effects of the years. Lifestyle, diet, and supplements can support a healthier, younger-feeling and performing you at most any age.”

But perhaps Mr. Cleland offered the most apt advice: “If a total stranger walked up to you on the street and offered you a bottle of something called ‘Wondrous Night,’ would you give him your credit card number? If not, why would you give your credit card information to a total stranger on the Internet?”