The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates both cosmetics and drugs, but they’re not the same thing. The distinction is that drugs affect the structure of your body or the way it works, and cosmetics just make you look nicer. It’s the difference between a tube of mascara and a prescription of Latisse. Try telling that to Lancôme, though. The FDA happened to stop by the company’s website one day, and noticed that the company makes some claims that make their products sound less like cosmetics, and more like drugs. [More]
Government Policy
Maybe The Average Traveler Is Okay With The TSA, But Frequent Fliers? Not So Much
By 9.11.12
We’re up, we’re down, we approve of the job the Transportation Security Administration is doing (or, if you took our poll, 82.5% of our readers who responded actually don’t think so) and now someone else is saying the TSA is mucking it up at our nation’s airports. That’s according to frequent fliers who were asked about the topic in a new survey released today. [More]
Study Says 800K Homeowners Should've Avoided Foreclosure But Big Banks Messed It All Up
By 9.11.12
Getting a mortgage modification has been hard enough for homeowners, what with disorganized big banks not having enough well-trained people on staff to deal with the necessary ins and outs of the process. But a new study says that things should’ve been easier under the Home Affordable Modification Program and resulted in 800,000 fewer foreclosures than we ended up with. [More]
Town Thinks Ban On Dogs Might Revitalize Business District
By 9.11.12
To some folks in Beaver Falls, PA., the sagging sales and foot traffic in the downtown business district isn’t a result of a depressed economy or consumers opting for online retailers and big box stores. No, it’s too many people walking their dogs down the sidewalk. So apparently the solution is to ban dogs from the area. [More]
Cable Industry Says It Shouldn't Have To Adjust Volume On Ads Because C-SPAN Doesn't Have To
By 9.11.12
On December 13, a new piece of legislation intended to prevent obnoxiously loud TV advertising from ruining your nap will take effect. But the cable industry is making a last-minute move to get an exemption for “promotional” ads (aren’t all ads supposed to be promotional?). Their reasoning? They just want the same leeway given to that ad-bloated TV powerhouse C-SPAN. [More]
Judge Requires Strip Club Patrons To Tuck In Shirts, Dancers To Cover Rear-Ends
By 9.11.12
A Houston-area strip club is set to face trial in December on allegations that all sorts of illicit activities — prostitution, drugs, illegal weapons — were being trafficked within its walls. Yesterday, the judge in the case ruled that the club can remain open, but on some rather strict conditions. [More]
FTC Goes After Marketers Hawking Natural Remedies For Bed Bug & Head Lice Problems
By 9.10.12
If you’ve ever had bed bugs or known anyone who’s endured an infestation, you know what a nightmarishly awful, stressful and expensive problem it can be. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission doesn’t want two companies to prey on consumer distress by offering up natural remedies for bedbugs and head lice if they’re not really that effective at getting rid of the critters. [More]
Woman's Social Security Number Displayed To Millions During Democratic National Convention
By 9.6.12
How do you know you’re watching television with a Consumerist editor? Our commenters will probably formulate all kinds of punchlines for that setup, but last night, I was half paying attention to former President Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on CNN when I happened to see an elderly supporter waving her Medicare card at the camera. Her name and Social Security number were completely legible. “We can read her card! Stop showing that!” I shouted at the TV. The people on the television never listen to personal finance bloggers who are shouting at them. [More]
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Suing Ben & Cherry's Pornos Because, Well, Duh
By 9.6.12
Perhaps some companies might not mind sharing similar names with a porno series, but when you’re America’s ice cream sweethearts, that’s just not gonna fly. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is suing the company behind “Ben & Cherry’s” X-rated DVDS for besmirching its reputation with its “hardcore pornographic” fare. [More]
Judge Tells Family Too Bad, So Sad: Your $80M In Rare Coins Belong To The Government
By 9.6.12
In yet another example of why it’s kind of crappy to be a grownup, the rule of “finders, keepers” doesn’t work beyond the playground’s boundaries. A federal judge ruled recently that 10 rare gold coins valued at about $80 million that had disappeared from the Philadelphia Mint decades ago belong to the U.S. government, and not a family that found them in a safety deposit box. Bummer. [More]
Kids Worldwide Still Snarfing Detergent Pods Like Candy
By 9.6.12 — Updated: 4.3.13
In hindsight, maybe brightly-colored, individually wrapped dollops of laundry detergent weren’t such a great idea from a safety point of view. Sure, they’re popular: pre-measured soap is handy, and they keep people who use laundromats or apartment building machines from hauling giant bottles around. The disadvantage is that even with warnings to keep the products on a high shelf and promises to change the packaging to make it more childproof, kids everywhere seem to find the pods irresistible. [More]
Third Time Is Far From The Charm For The Once Again Recalled 2013 Ford Escape
By 9.5.12
Another day, another 2013 Ford Escape recall: After issuing recalls for scary fires and gas pedals that wouldn’t quit in July, Ford is issuing a third recall for its sport utility vehicles, this time citing a fire hazard in the engine compartment. On the bright side? There were no Escape recalls in the entire month of August. [More]
Kotex Was Totally Going To Get Around To Destroying Tainted Tampons But Someone Stole Them First
By 9.5.12
Kotex’s parent company Kimberly-Clark is totally willing to own up when one of its products is less than perfect. That’s why the company said it had intended to destroy a batch of tainted Kotex Natural Balance Tampons, which could contain unhealthy levels of bacteria and “metallic particles” that aren’t so good for you. But some odd villian thwarted that plan by swiping the tainted tampons and selling them to the public despite their unworthiness. [More]
FCC To Test Mobile Broadband Speeds… In Due Time
By 9.5.12
For two years now, the Federal Communications Commission has been looking at terrestrial broadband services to see which DSL/cable/fiber/string-and-cans providers are actually delivering the speeds they promise. So it only makes sense for the FCC to start looking at just how quickly U.S. consumers are able to download data over mobile networks. Unfortunately, the federal government still moves at the speed of a crappy dial-up line. [More]
Advocates: Now Is The Time To Reform Reverse Mortgages
By 9.4.12
A large chunk of the U.S. population is heading into what are supposed to be their golden years. But between financial hardship and shortsighted financial planning, many of these people are not able to retire comfortably, if at all. A reverse mortgage that allows homeowners who are at least 62 years old to borrow against the equity of their property may seem like a more appealing alternative to working into one’s 80s, but there are pitfalls involved — some of which can be fixed by a bit of reform. [More]
If One Woman Flies On An Expired Passport With No One Noticing, How Many Others Are Doing The Same?
By 8.31.12
Anyone who’s ever flown internationally has had that heartbeat-skipping moment: “Wait, is my passport expired?” I had it a few months before flying to England, and my heart didn’t rest until my newly-issued passport was in my hands. But one woman who flew to Europe from the U.S. says she didn’t have that moment until it was too late, when she realized her passport was a year expired. Turns out a bunch of security agents missed it, too. Oops. [More]
Mr. Coffee Single-Cup Brewers Recalled Because No One Likes A Face Full Of Burning Steam
By 8.31.12
If there’s a Mrs. Coffee out there, she might be a bit displeased with her husband right about now. Numerous reports of consumers getting hit in the face with steam and scorching coffee grounds have prompted a recall of over 600,000 Mr. Coffee single-cup brewers. She’s never going to let this one drop. [More]
Apparently There's A Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve, And Someone Stole It
By 8.31.12
First, let us reassure you: there will be no maple syrup shortage this year. Repeat: there will be no maple syrup shortage. However, police in Quebec, Canada are trying to determine the whereabouts of millions of dollars’ worth of maple syrup that disappeared from a warehouse in the town of St-Louis-de-Blandford. It wasn’t just any warehouse full of concentrated tree sap that was burgled: it was the temporary storage site of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers’ global strategic maple syrup reserve. Which is apparently a thing. [More]
