Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The Wall Street Journal health blog reports:
The founder of a company that sells Enzyte -- "the once-daily tablet for natural male enhancement" -- was sentenced to 25 years in jail yesterday. Berkeley Premium Neutraceuticals and other defendants were ordered to forfeit $500 million. The drug was promoted by a guy called "Smiling Bob" (pictured at left, smiling)...Steve Warshak, founder of Berkeley Premium Neutraceuticals, was convicted earlier this year on 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors said the company bilked customers out of $100 million through deceptive ads, manipulated credit-card transactions and refusal to accept returns or cancel orders.
He hasn't stopped lying, however:
Warshak said: "I do feel deep remorse and would like to apologize to any customer who ever had a bad experience with my company."
Right. He feels such deep remorse that even though he was convicted of these things months ago, I was still hearing commercials for it on the radio as recently as two days ago. By golly, that's remorse.
Politics
Comments
That would be one year for the fraud and 24 for those %#%^@$%@*&#$%^&$ commercials with Bob the Grinning Idiot!!!
Posted by: Eamon Knight | September 1, 2008 9:51 AM
Bob must be crestfallen.
Posted by: Zeno | September 1, 2008 10:12 AM
Zeno: indeed, I'm sure he's feeling quite deflated. In fact, I'd bet he's feeling rather small and inadequate.
Posted by: BruceH | September 1, 2008 10:34 AM
I still don't understand how anyone could think that taking a pill would change their body shape. The guy might as well have been advertising all-natural rhinoplasties.
Posted by: schism | September 1, 2008 10:42 AM
"I still don't understand how anyone could think that taking a pill would change their body shape."
A lot of people lose weight eating nothing but speed.
Posted by: Skip Evans | September 1, 2008 11:43 AM
Men take those pills for the same reason women have been taking breast enlargement pills since at least the 1950's, because the first sample was cheap or free, people tend to believe that medicines treating high-stress conditions work, and our society had consistently pushed big dicks and breasts as a requirement for membership. If you aren't strong willed and live in a society where men are defined by their penises, and where small penises are a joke, then I'd imagine you'd do anything to fix what you see as a cruel disfigurement.
I'm not saying it was the right thing for these people to do, but it is understandable.
Posted by: Julian | September 1, 2008 12:10 PM
Manipulating people into feeling inadequate in the quest for power and profit describes a lot of advertisements.
Posted by: Lisa D | September 1, 2008 12:11 PM
schism said:
"I still don't understand how anyone could think that taking a pill would change their body shape. The guy might as well have been advertising all-natural rhinoplasties."
Enzyte and Extenz (?) actaully have ingredients that, on the face of them, make some pharmacological sense as far as male sexual functioning. For example, I believe they c(supposedly) containg yohimbe bark, which contains yohimbine, a compound which "is available as a prescription medicine in the United States, and has been shown in human studies to be effective in the treatment of male impotence." (Wikipedia)
There are other compounds in there which purportedly increase blood flow, etc.
If you can give an older man the type of erections he used to enjoy as a teenager - you would have a lot of satisfied customers.
Any way, this is not to say that either of these products actually works in humans at the dosages provided, or even contains the compounds that they claim to contain.
Posted by: Gingerbaker | September 1, 2008 12:13 PM
I should also point out that penis enlargement schemes are just as old as "natural" breast enlargement. That first sentence kid of sounds misogynistic to me on reading it again, so I figured I'd clarify to avoid feather-ruffling.
Posted by: Julian | September 1, 2008 12:15 PM
What a letdown.
Posted by: Eveningsun | September 1, 2008 2:16 PM
I just saw one of the "smiling Bob" commercials - maybe a week or two ago. The jailing of the founder doesn't seem to have an impact on advertisement - or sales?
Huh... Warshak in jail. Will he be concerned about "male enhancement" while there?
Posted by: Calladus | September 1, 2008 2:35 PM
I suspect most of his remorse doesn't come from the mansions, yachts, jets, and sex with hot babe gold diggers that all that money would have made available to him. I'm guessing the prospect of a small cell, communal showers, being transported in prison vans, and sex with decidedly unattractive men plays more of a role in it.
Posted by: soboco | September 1, 2008 3:18 PM
Kind of interesting, isn't it? I mean, if I had that guys money, and his problems, I would have been living in an undisclosed location on another continent.
Maybe he just believed in his product and was a "stand up kind of guy"?
Posted by: Gingerbaker | September 1, 2008 3:50 PM
What about bob?!?!?
Posted by: dogmeatib | September 1, 2008 4:26 PM
Just remember, the people who spent millions on Enzyte are probably all eligible voters.
Sleep well, people....
Posted by: flatlander100 | September 2, 2008 1:15 AM
My grandson (about to turn 5) thinks Bob is hilarious! I'm just hoping he doesn't get it and won't develop complexes. Just kidding. I know he doesn't. He sees this grown-up grinning like an idiot and doing all kinds of silly things and laughs at it. Seems the appropriate reaction.
But, man, I gotta tell you, even if the stuff worked, I can't see women falling all over Bob. After all, he's unattractive as hell (polite/PC way of saying he's ugly as sin) and anything inside the pants ain't gonna be discovered if you don't have the inclination to go there to begin with. Unfortunately for us ladies, there ain't no knowing on that score until it's too late.
Also, though with the input of Viagara and all these other male commercials (what's that new one my man does it for me), I remember the side affects of Viagara being heart disease and I think if she thinks you'd better perform for her even if it gives you a heart attack, ditch that chick and look for another who actually gives a shit about you.
Posted by: T's Grammy | September 2, 2008 7:46 AM
The drug was promoted by a guy called "Smiling Bob" (pictured at left, smiling)...
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All I see, pictured at left, smiling, is "Smiling Ed".
Posted by: william e emba | September 2, 2008 10:16 AM
All I see, pictured at left, smiling, is "Smiling Ed".
Posted by: william e emba | September 2, 2008 10:20 AM
Maybe Ed is enjoying the natural growth of Enzyte?
I do have to say that the commercials are like a good primer to the movie Walk Hard.
Posted by: daenku32 | September 2, 2008 2:58 PM
william e emba wrote:
All I see, pictured at left, smiling, is "Smiling Ed".
Maybe so, but the "pictured at left" refers to the WSJ piece.
Even without looking, I get the feeling that "Smiling Bob" is that guy who resembles a perpetually grinning, mentally challenged version of Diedrich Bader. Problem is, he would not be smiling all that much if his stiffo was as eternal as an Everlasting Gobstopper (and boy, does that Willy Wonka ref seem all the more perverse in this context!) was supposed to be.
Posted by: Chris Krolczyk | September 2, 2008 6:58 PM
I'm amazed at the length of the sentence! - Contrast this with the extremely highly paid top people in Big Pharma who seriously damage or even bring about the deaths of multitudes of patients with legitimate, doctor-prescribed drugs that should have been pulled when serious side-effects started to be noticed. - These people who cover up the side-effects, deny them or trivialise them, and thus ensure that other innocent patients suffer unnecessarily: they never seem to be sent to prison! - Just a fine for the company usually...
Posted by: Margaret Wilde | September 4, 2008 3:36 AM