Synchronal Corp

The Federal Trade Commission said Synchronal Corp., one of the nation's largest infomercial producers, has agreed to pay $3.5 million into a consumer redress fund to settle charges that it made false and unsubstantiated claims for baldness and anti-cellulite products. The FTC said thousands of viewers across the country bought the Omexin System for Hair and the Anuska Bio-Response Body Contouring Program, though there is no proof the treatments work.

The Federal Trade Commission said Synchronal Corp., one of the nation's largest infomercial producers, has agreed to pay $3.5 million into a consumer redress fund to settle charges that it made false and unsubstantiated claims for baldness and anti-cellulite products. The FTC said thousands of viewers across the country bought the Omexin System for Hair and the Anuska Bio-Response Body Contouring Program, though there is no proof the treatments work.

The info-mercial boom is due in part to a 1982 antitrust ruling against the National Assn. of Broadcasters. In 1983, the NAB dissolved a 30-year-old code, voluntarily obeyed by most broadcasters, which limited the number of commercial minutes a station could air per hour. Info-mercials-commercials that look like news or talk shows-rushed in to fill the void and now account for as much as 50% of local programming, said Assistant Prof.