How not to establish credibility

Quick word to the wise - if you're the sales representative of a major supply company, and you're trying to sell a nutrient to a manufacturer, putting together a customised presentation brochure is a lovely touch. I appreciate it.

However, do realise that I'll also read it, and therefore trying to show that your product has been widely reported in international news by including an article on how laughter helps your stomach muscles may not win my respect. Even if you do go through and use a dodgy Powerpoint red circle to emphasis it, I'm still likely to notice that it has nothing at all to do with the product you're trying to sell me - or any other natural supplement, for that matter!

It doesn't matter how many printouts of my company's website you include and splatter with comments on how well the ingredient matches our identity. And including a screendump of a pubmed search with a few animal studies does not prove your ingredient is well researched. Sorry.

I'm still going to conclude that either you're a moron, or you think I am. Neither are likely to inspire me with an overwhelming belief in you or your product.

It does give my stomach muscles a good workout, though.

Truth in advertising

Quote of the morning was waiting for me in my inbox today - it's always nice to start your work week with a giggle at some unlooked-for honesty from a manufacturer.

NutraIngredients, a daily newletter for the complementary medicines industry, has a quote from Dr Miquel Mir, product applications manager for Croda Health Care, who are launching a new fish oil supplement. This supplement contains measured levels of the normal EPA and DHA, as you'd expect, but it also touts the benefits of the intermediary omega-3 fatty acid DPA (docosopentanoeic acid, for the curious).

Dr Mir leads off the article talking about his shiny new product. His take on it?

DPA has been "wholly overrated".

I'm finding it refreshing to see such honesty in a product manufacturer. It's very nice when they're willing to state up front that an ingredient is unlikely to live up to the (usually excessive) hype. Of course, there'll probably be a correction in tomorrow's email, but until then, I'm somewhat sardonically basking in the heady glow of realistic claims.

For the curious, or the disbelieving, you can read the article here. And in case anyone is suddenly convinced about the benefits of DPA, it does actually look quite interesting. Bear in mind that it's going to be in just about every fish oil supplement you can buy (in Australia, anyway - America is a little different in that they can sell the isolated EPA and DHA on their own); these guys are just the first to bother talking about it.