Is That Even Legal?

This article about Steve Garvey's endorsement of "Fat Trapper," which "is made out of seafood shells and allegedly 'surrounds the fat in the food you eat and entraps it,'" reminds me of a story I heard once back in my Los Angeles days.

An acquaintance of mine was tapped to appear in an infomercial for a "miracle" exercise product. They dressed him up in oversized clothes, lit him unflatteringly, and had him stand with his belly pooched out and a mildly depressed look on his face. This was the "before" picture. Then they took him into another room, spray-tanned him, dressed him up, changed the lighting, and had him suck in his stomach and grin like hell. Voila! The "after" picture!

In case you were ever tempted to believe everything you see on late-night TV. You may want to not do that.