SAN ANTONIO - Body Solutions, that once popular weight-loss product, made millions based here in San Antonio a few years back. Then the Federal Trade Commission sued the company, claiming false advertisement and the company eventually closed.
Body Solutions was all over the radio back in the early part of this decade. Over and over again you couldn't help but hear how you could “lose weight while you sleep.” The original man behind Body Solutions, Harry Siskind, now lives in a prison cell after pleading guilty to making a false statement to the Federal Trade Commission about the value of his assets.
Now Body Solutions is back under the name “Body Solutions Ultra.” According to the company's website, it is not under the same ownership as the original product’s manufacturer that went bankrupt in 2003. However, it is the same formula that the state claimed didn't work.
I wanted to know what's different in this stuff and the way it's being marketed. I also wanted to know why anybody would want to buy the rights to a product associated with claims of fraud.
Investment banker Michael Casas is the man behind the rebirth of Body Solutions. He thinks the 'Body Solutions' name still has great value.
“After doing some research we found that there's a tremendous amount of value brand name awareness. with Body Solutions, explained Casas. “The only place that it's a toxic name is here in Bexar County, so I saw it as a tremendous opportunity to make a wise investment.”
So Casas bought the Body Solutions formula, even though some remember it as the stuff the government sued over - that falsely claimed you could lose weight while you sleep without diet or exercise. The claims were advertised by deejays across the country, whose individual claims were suspect.
Casas tweaked some of the flavoring.
“The ingredients in the liquid dietary supplement are basically the same. It's the same as Body Solutions with an improved level of some of the ingredients,” said Casas.
Casas says the stuff can or may help you lose weight, using a patented formula of aloe and other ingredients like collagen and CLA. These ingredients are commonly used in other weight-loss products.
The difference, says Casas, is the claims of the old Body Solutions. He says it's a program of behavior modification, diet, exercise and not eating three hours before bed when you take a teaspoonful of Body Solutions Ultra.
But the website says its taken at bedtime and goes to work while you sleep. That sounds like the same claim, it works while you sleep.
Casa says that just means it's more convenient than other programs like no carbohydrate diets or extreme exercise.
“So we're not making a claim,” maintained Casas. “We're not making an assertion in a sense that you're gonna lose the weight while you sleep.”
But the website actually reads, “Goes to work while you sleep.”
“You consume it while you sleep,” says Casas. “If there's a problem with that particular line, which is something the marketing people have put together, we'll take a look at it. We'll address it. We are looking to comply with all the Federal Trade Commission regulations.”
In another striking development, Casas has begun using Dallas radio deejays to pitch the new Body Solutions.
The Body Solutions Ultra website also has the Better Business Bureau’s accreditation logo. News 4 WOAI contacted the BBB and it says the product is not accredited, but a marketing company listed on the site is.
After alerting them to this product, the BBB is now looking into the marketing company.
“That is an accredited business; however it is not accredited to sell Body Solutions Ultra,” the BBB’s Executive Director Dean Taylor says. “So we are doing some updating on that particular company.”
Casas tells News 4 WOAI his accreditation came out of Austin's BBB office. But he'll work with the BBB to get the proper accreditation.
