thinkevolution.net

Ad published December 2008. Click to enlarge.

Amatokin is an expensive facial cream that claims to reduce wrinkles by using stem cell technology. I discovered an ad for Amatokin (right) recently in a glossy fashion mag, and read the copy because I was curious about what spurious claims the manufacturer was making about stem cells in their product. Turns out, the ad doesn’t bother to make any actual claims. Rather, the association between stem cells and Amatokin seems to be one generated by publishing unregulated ad copy that puts these two phrases within close proximity.

I’m disappointed, I have to say. I had hoped the ad would claim (preposterously) that there were actual stem cells in the cream, which would be the second grossest thing ever. Living human cell lines to slather on your face! (You know what that reminds me of? The first grossest thing ever.) There is an implication that the cream instead contains some magic molecule that promotes growth of your own stem cells: “That’s why science is seeking to activate the potential of our inherent adult stem cell reservoirs.”

But that has a pretty serious ick factor too: overactivation of stem cells = cancer. Fortunately, there is absolutely no evidence that this cream has any effect whatsoever, in either stimulating stem cells or fighting wrinkes. But pseudo-reporting about this dubious product is smeared all over the interwebs, much of it lazily plagarizing the same copy (here, here, here, here, here, here). Charmingly, a major talking point is the “controversial” aspect of Amatokin:

[Amatokin was] developed in Russia at the “super-secret” Research and Production Center for Medical Biotechnology (a high-security medical lab located 62 miles north of St. Petersburg, surrounded by razor wire and machine-gun-toting armed guards… no kidding)…

There’s nothing like a whiff of cold-war secrecy to lend a little validity to a scientific claim! Those Soviets had no scruples, and maybe grinding up babies is just what it is going to take to get some results:

Kerry Pack, spokesperson for Voss (the exclusive distributor of Amatokin) added, “We simply do not want to be part of this growing debate between the medical establishment and the cosmetic industry about the appropriate use of stem cell research. We are perfectly happy to allow Amatokin to remain the ‘underground’ cult phenomenon it has become. Our selective clientele know how to get their Amatokin when they want it.”

Which is at Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and that secret resource called the internet. In terms of real controversy, there isn’t much regarding the humongous load of crap Voss laboratories is selling for $230 an ounce. A few commenters on this blog point out the lack of scientific evidence for Amatokin’s claims. But this site (which may be managed by a competing conglomerate for all I know) claims that Amatokin’s parent manufacturer has endured criminal lawsuits for fraud and points out that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has forced a rewording of Amatokin print ads. Not that I find any of this all that outrageous. After all, as soon as we get science education up and running, none of it will matter.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Pseudoscience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.