Just a verbiage issue

Gwyneth Paltrow reassures us that she is not talking bullshit by talking bullshit.

Earlier this year, the lifestyle corporation fell under scrutiny once more when nonprofit group Truth in Advertising accused Goop of exploiting women with products which claim to combat health problems.

And now Gwyneth has opened up about the controversy.

When asked by the Radio 4 Today Programme about the flack the company has faced about some of the health benefits the products claim to have, Gwyneth replied that she thinks the criticism is important.

“If we’re not criticised we’re not doing our job. What we’re here to do is trailblaize and try to move culture forward,” she said.

“If we’re not criticised we’re not doing our job”? What’s she talking about? If you’re a corporation that purports to sell products that promote “wellness” then why is criticism required to do the job? Why not just sell the correct stuff to promote “wellness” instead?

And then the trailblazing. Why should a movie star be “trailblazing” on medical products? She has no relevant education or training. She’s an actor. And what does she mean by “move culture forward”? Isn’t it, rather, backward? Back to a time when no one knew very much about medicine so guesswork was all they had?

When asked about the specific law suit the company faced she explained:

“In that case there was just a verbiage issue. As you grow as a company, you learn about claims. If you look a product that says this may help with wrinkles you can’t say this will eradicate wrinkles.

That is, you can’t if it doesn’t. If she weren’t peddling woo she wouldn’t have to be careful about the “verbiage” in that way. She can’t say it eradicates wrinkles for the simple reason that it doesn’t. Saying it “may help with” is legal because it’s empty…but, sadly, persuasive to the inattentive.

The interview went on to discuss the Carnelian crystal that claims to help treat infertility.

Gwyneth pointed out that though she’d never tried it she believed there are “ancient healing modalities that have existed the power of oils and crystals for thousands of years that people find really effective.”

Who cares what she believes? This isn’t Tinkerbell. And calling them “modalities” doesn’t make them work any better.

It wasn’t long before people took to Twitter to let their thoughts on the interview known.

I found a few myself.

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