Edgy Product Names Damaging the Industry or Smart Marketing?
Over the past decade, we have seen some pretty edgy supplement product names. Do such supplement product names help sell the products? Absolutely. If it sounds like a steroid or prescription drug people tend to flock to it thinking they bucked the system and are getting a pharmaceutical grade or underground product without a doctor’s prescription. While this may seem great for the consumer, it could be damaging the industry as a whole. This piece will give my two cents on the topic from both sides of the equation.
As with most things, there are generally two sides to every story. One side in this instance says it’s moving the needle with sales and the other side is potentially opening up a can of worms for more regulations and a deeper look under the microscope of our beloved supplement industry.
The topic of this article all stemmed from a new product release that I saw that claimed it was a “post gear” product and used by those who are coming off-cycle from hormone replacement therapy or some type of anabolic/steroid cycle. No, I’m not going to name any brand names in this article as I’m not looking to promote brands nor am I getting paid to speak about the products/brands. With that being said, let’s dive into the viewpoints.
Viewpoint 1: Smart Marketing
Just like sex sells, so do edgy supplement product names. Toss the name of a steroid or other drug on your label or something that resembles the actual steroid or drug name and watch it fly off the retailer’s shelves. Why is this? Because it’s smart marketing. It’s hard to deny that point. People want the most hardcore products they can find and using such supplement product names will move product by grabbing the attention of the consumer. Now, what I’ve found from my time in the industry is that many new or novice supplement users are generally the ones who fall into this marketing trap. The experienced users and OG’s know better than to fall into marketing hype.
The whole point of marketing is to help sell product and create a buzz and hype surrounding the “potential” benefits that can be had from such products. Toss a steroid name or something similar on a label and watch people flock to stores in hopes of finding the magic pill to give them the muscle gains they desire. Do some of them work? Absolutely. Do all of them meet label claims? No, and that brings lawsuits and negativity to the industry which leads us into the second viewpoint of this article.
Viewpoint 2: Industry Damaging
This viewpoint could piss off quite a few people and brands but it needs to be brought up and talked about. This viewpoint brings up the negative side to edgy supplement product names. Using steroid names for products or a similarity to the name of a steroid or drug could cause some unwanted eyeballs on our industry and products. There are already some very hardcore products on the market today and when brands don’t want to educate the consumer on the ingredients, they tend to use these edgy supplement product names.
In the past, such names have brought up lawsuits as well as product and ingredient bans. Some of these lawsuits and bans stem from using certain names or terms in supplement product names while others caused the powers that be to get products tested in an effort to figure out exactly what’s in a product (this be good or bad depending on if they meet label claims). Well, when brands don’t meet label claims or they actually put a drug in their profile without putting it on the label (which they know would be illegal) it obviously raises a red flag.
When the media covers lawsuits brought on by some of the examples I mentioned above, it gives the whole industry a black eye. Even legacy brands are scrutinized and have people wondering what’s really in their products and if they are safe to use. Again, this is extremely detrimental to the supplement industry.
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