Acne is a business, and business is flourishing.

There are thousands upon thousands of acne products, both prescription and over the counter, that cycle in and out of drugstore shelves. At any given time, there are hundreds of different products that are available to the acne sufferer. They all have similar formulas with the same major ingredients. There are only a few active ingredients ‘shown in studies’ to be effective in ‘managing’ acne – those are Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic acid.  In essence, mostly all OTC acne products are the same thing with a few different inactive ingredients.  Figuring out which one is best is overwhelming for the common acne sufferer. The fact is,  none of them are effective at curing your acne.

Greed, misconception, and its relationship with acne

To understand the acne business model, you must first understand that humans are greedy, and greed in the ecosystem of today’s society directly effects health in many ways.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. – Mahatma Gandhi

In a system where people are rewarded through the accumulation of money, the health of the unsuspecting results. Enron is a classic example of humans greed to accumulate money at the expense of others.  The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are no different.

Every year, a dozen new acne companies are created. According to the American Acadaemy of Dermatology, 40-50 million people suffer from acne. and each year 85% of teenagers will have acne. [1] This creates a huge market with lots of opportunities for business men to make money.

Common sense will tell us that most of these business men don’t understand the true nature of acne – hell, most dermatologists don’t even understand it’s true nature. Their beliefs are based off of misconception.

The #1 Misconception: Acne is not curable, but treatable and manageable.

This is because the roots from which all acne treatments stems from is an effort in futility. All acne products treat the symptom (acne) and do not treat the true cause (health and nutrition). [3] (see Ladder of Causes)

The fact that the acne market today is based off an effort in futility happens to be very good for business. Understand the cycle of events that take place in an average acne sufferer consumer:

Big acne business and the many unknowns

The pinnacle of business in terms of the acne product market came at the advent of  ProActiv, a sister company of Gunthy Renker Corporation, a direct-response marketer known primarily for selling products in the United States via infomercials. [4]

Right now, we own acne. – Greg Renker, a chief executive of Guthy-Renker

The idea was quite genius, in business terms. Bring together the marketing powerhouse abilities of Gunthy Renker with the preconceived expertise of Dr. Katie P. Rodan and Dr. Kathy A. Fields, the two dermatologists who founded ProActiv. Now you have an image with the capability to market it effectively. From this point, there is no need to put more money into improving product effectiveness.

We are told very little about how these two dermatologists created their products. The FDA will tell us that topical products should be built and tested in a lab by capable human beings  doing their due diligence, who understand the function of each and every chemical used. Where is the line between dermatologist and chemist drawn? Bottom line, it isn’t – the consumer has no idea how these products were created and who they were created by. How are we able to surmise the effectiveness of a product we cannot understand completely? Are we to blatantly believe what we see on television infomercials and obliviously consume and apply drugs that are supposedly helpful for us?

Built in Consumer Advertising vs. Commercial Advertising

In most business models, built in consumer advertising is a huge part of the success of an advertising campaign. For instance, when someone buys a Honda Civic, and is happy with their purchase, they will tell their friends and family that they are having a good experience. Another example would be Apple. When someone is on the bus using their new iPhone, the apple logo stands out on the other side. Someone else who randomly looks sees this logo and is effectively advertised by the consumer.

The acne business model is inherently different. When someone is able to effectively improve their acne, it isn’t common for the sufferer to tell his friends and family that ‘Hey, this Murad acne cream is working pretty well!’ No one can see what type of acne medication/treatment you are using at the time. Acne is a sensitive subject that isn’t talked about publicly. Therefore, built in consumer advertising is not an important cornerstone of the acne advertising model.

What’s far more important is commercial advertising. Getting the idea out there that the product they are selling actually works and convince the consumer that it is proven to work. Jessica Simpson was paid six figures alone to appear in Pro Activ commercials to help convince the consumer.  The company spends about $125 million a year buying time for its infomercials on channels like VH1 and MTV as well as Web sites like Facebook. [2]

Millions of dollars are put into lobbying the government and FDA for approval of acne products.

The money doesn’t end in advertising. Most over the counter products and all prescription products must go through the FDA if companies want to access this multi-billion dollar industry. The FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, is a federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products. [5]

Wherever there is a billion dollar industry, there will be corruption. The acne market is no different. Every year, health care, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic companies alike put millions of dollars into lobbying the government for ‘ease of passage.’ This means, making the flow from lab to drugstore shelf as seamless and easy as possible. Despite the obvious fact that this goes against the very reason why the FDA exists in the first place, it just goes to show how important money is in the overall scheme of things as compared to the actual effectiveness of the product and whether it helps people or not.

Drawing conclusions from the fundamental concepts of the acne business model

ABM Concept #1: Acne is not curable, create products that succeed in managing acne as a disease.

The whole acne product scam is based off the misconception that acne is not curable but only manageable, yet they want to give the impression that there is a possibility of a cure with their products. The fact is, there is a cure for acne, and that is through health and nutrition, which is devoid of any need for any specific acne treatments.

ABM Concept # 2: Money spent on commercial advertising is much more important then drug effectiveness.

As stated earlier, commercial advertising yields far higher returns then would be product effectiveness, because built in consumer advertising does not exist with the acne business model.

ABM Concept #3: Health of sufferers comes secondary to product effectiveness and profit margins. The FDA is more of an obstacle then a safety.

Understand that acne drugs, whether it be Accutane, or topical acne treatments, are not healthy and can severely impair your health in many cases. This doesn’t matter to acne companies, as long as the product passes FDA regulations and the superficial symptoms are treated. This falls within the business model because acne sufferers are so desperate at fixing their skin that they are blinded by the ramifications of consuming man made drugs and applying man made topicals made from unnatural chemicals.

Understanding the greed and business model of acne products on the market today can open your eyes to many things. Be wary of any acne products or drugs on the market because they were not created with your health in mind.

References:

[1] http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_acne.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/fashion/18skin.html
[3] http://focusacne.com/ladder-of-causes/
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthy-Renker
[5] http://wordnet.princeton.edu/

The Reason is Processed Foods!

For thousands of years while the human body was being formed and evolved, our ancestors would live off of the foods mother nature gave us – they would ‘live off the resources of land’. Meat, fish, coconuts, vegetables, etc. Their primary concern was survival, and the health of their offspring, just like animals are in nature.

This evolution went on for thousands and thousands of years until just 100 measly years ago, the advent of industrialization and processed foods came about.

Nowadays, acne, and disease in general is more widespread than its ever been. Doctors and Psychiatrists are coming up with names for new diseases every year. The pharmaceutical industry is now bigger than any other in the world. The processing of foods, which some would call necessary, has had a major impact on the health and skin quality of millions!

Why does food exist in the first place?

To provide nutrition! Our body has evolved to take the necessary nutrients it needs from foods, and use those nutrients to legislate needed actions.

If the ‘food’ you are eating is devoid of nutrients, your body will have to deal with digesting and expelling it with no direct benefit. Without the resources brought through nutrients, digesting this food becomes a daunting task for your body. It will cause constipation, and it will cause acne!

White Bread: The Perfect Example

How did white bread come about? Back in the day people discovered they could use grain to make bread. Grain was cheap and the bread it produced could feed more people.

So bread started being distributed amongst small communities. When the economy began it’s expansion, railroads were being built, and bread was a good food to distribute to far places. It didn’t go bad as quickly as meat or fish would, it was cheap, and it kept stomachs full.

There was one problem with the bread distributors master plan. When the bread was being shipped via railroad, the flies would get to it in transit — and eat it. ‘This isn’t good for business,’ they thought. ‘There’s some nutritious value to our food and the flies like it’. That’s when they created the concept of white bread. By removing the germ from the grain, all the nutritious value was gone. The flies no longer wanted to eat it.

May I remind you, flies like to eat DOG SHIT. Meaning that stinky piece of poo Scruffy has left in the backyard has more nutritious value then white bread.

Injecting Foods With Nutrients – The Easy Way Out

Due to regulations imposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), white bread must contain a certain amount of Vitamins and Minerals. But how does a bread company who processes their food achieve the ‘nutrition quota.’ They inject them! They inject their foods with synthetic vitamins and minerals, so when you read ‘Riboflavin’ on your Wonder Bread’s ingredient list, you’ll know how it got there.

Synthetics aren’t the only thing they inject the bread with. Did you know that the white bread you are eating has sugar in it? (More specifically, high fructose corn syrup) Manufacturers of common bread brands such as ‘Wonder Bread’ inject their ‘food’ with high fructose corn syrup to give it taste. Anyone who understands some connection between diet and acne understand that sugar is bad for your skin!

Now realize that this is just bread – modern processing techniques have come a long way with a multitude of foods. Now we have the wonderful ability to genetically process corn so we can produce more of it, so flies won’t eat it. We have the ability to give cows hormones so they produce more milk. All of this food is being distributed to the common consumer.

What does this mean for the acne sufferer?

Their is a common rule – any foods that are damaging to our body will be damaging to our skin. All modern processed foods are not natural. Remember that humans took thousands and thousands of years to evolve into what we take in as healthy and unhealthy. We’ve been eating solely meat and fish for a very, very long time. Now all of the sudden, say 100 or so years ago, we come up with all these BS food making techniques. Cancer is on the rise – acne is on the rise as well.

Now don’t get me wrong – i’m sure many soon to be dermatologists had the thought ‘I want to help people.’ But for 99% of them, this thought came second to the money they could acquire, the status they could achieve, the opportunities they would have the rest of their life. Generally speaking, humans are selfish. Why are you here in the first place? It’s not because your brother has some pimples on his forehead and you want to help him get laid – it’s because you are dealing with this shit everyday and you want to help yourself. Everyone does.

The Road to Dermatology

So now this soon to be dermatologist makes it into a school of dermatology. He’s fed bullshit studies and textbook information that were written in the 80s. He’s convinced that this information is all true – because it’s backed by studies and proofs – because it’s written by knowledgeable professors and dermatologists alike. Now put yourself in his position. You’ve had some acne during your earlier years but it’s not as huge deal with you. Your skin is nice now and you know that your skin better be damn good or how could you ever make it in the field of dermatology? Now think to yourself, is acne, rosacea, boils, bumps, and scars very interesting to you? How about that rash on the back of some guys scalp that Gold-bond wont help? Fuck no. It’s downright depressing. Reading the obituaries everyday has more pleasantries.

So compare that to us. We deal with this shit everyday. We hate it. All we can think about is how can we get rid of it. We have a deep desire and passion to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix ourselves. We’ve studied more about acne then dermatologists. Dermatologists study about every skin disease – we specialize in one. We are one step ahead of the dermatologist.

After many years of study, the soon to be, has now become. He’s finally become that dermatologist he’s been working so hard at. He’s ready to prescribe that Benzamycin topical. When that doesn’t work he’s ready to prescribe that Erythromycin antibiotic. If that doesn’t work, and when things get worse, maybe he’ll be lucky enough to prescribe you Accutane

Now back onto the subject of money. Remember, this was the main reason the derm became a derm in the first place. Now lets figure out how dermatologists make money:

1. When patients come in for checkups, treatments, and prescriptions.
2. Every time the patient fills his prescription

‘

One of these was probably more apparent then the other. Let’s talk about number 2 for a bit. Can you figure out what the largest business industry in the world is? Not Microsoft, dummy, it’s the pharmaceutical industry! I could go on for hours about how the pharmaceutical industry tries to fuck us over, but that isn’t within the scope of our topic. Pharmaceutical companies make money by selling drugs. They are more devious, more notorious, more greedy then the heroin dealer on the street corner of the ghetto.

Now lets use antibiotics as our main example. There are literally several dozens types of antibiotics on the market. Not all of them come from the same company. The dermatologist has many poisons in his arsenal to mess you up with, but how does he choose? Money, of course. Pharmaceutical companies offer incentives in the form of green paper to prescribe their drugs over the others.

Now, you may be thinking i’m devils advocate. That i’m making out dermatologists to be evil gremlins with horns and the pharmaceutical companies are the devils themselves. Stop for a second and read over our dermatologists story. Two key points – he wanted to help people, and he’s convinced that the studies are true. The studies told him that clarithromycin worked on 67 out of the 93 patients studied. How would he know, he’s never taken it himself. So in his mind, this is a win win situation. Not only is he prescribing ‘proven to work’ drugs, but he’s making money at the same time. Wonderful.

Lets talk about number 1. Stop right here if you have a weak heart. After years and years of work, dermatologists must have figured out that all these drugs only treat the symptoms, that they don’t provide a cure, and in some cases cause more harm then good (let us not forget all the patients who get messed up from the drugs they prescribe and say ‘Fuck this derm i’m never going back to him again!’)

Dermatologists understand this concept of ‘no cure’, and they greet it with open arms. Dermatologists would be out of business if there was a widespread known cure to acne. Whether it be in their subconscious, or conscious, dermatologists want more and more people to get acne so they have more patients to ‘help.’

Stay away from dermatologists. Your money and your time can be better spent elsewhere.