No, Smartphones Will Not Cure Acne

By Brad

The idea that a smartphone app could clear your face of blemishes seems preposterous, but evidently enough people were being taken in by a scam that the Federal Trade Commission felt the need to step in. Via an FTC press release:

Marketers who advertised that their smartphone applications could treat acne have agreed to stop making baseless claims in order to settle FTC charges. The mobile applications, commonly referred to as “apps,” were sold in Apple’s iTunes Store and Google’s Android Marketplace. The settlements in two separate cases would bar the marketers from making certain health-related claims without scientific evidence.

“Smartphones make our lives easier in countless ways, but unfortunately when it comes to curing acne, there’s no app for that,” said FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz.