SANTA BARBARA, California (13 Nov 2003) -- Ever ask yourself why Rodale's Scuba Diving always gives the highest marks to its big advertisers and consistently pans non-advertisers in the magazine's scuba equipment and dive travel reviews? You're not alone. Force Fins designer and owner Bob Evans also felt "the magazine divers trust" was anything but trustworthy in the conduct of its so-called "objective scuba equipment reviews", where non-advertiser Force Fins products have always been panned while certain competitors that just happened to be among the magazine's major advertisers got sparkling reviews. So when Rodale's got cocky and advertised an award of $10,000 to anyone who could prove Scuba Diving magazine was biased and contained "lies, misrepresentations or other distortions", Bob Evans immediately jumped into action. In September 2000, Evans sent Rodale's five pages of specifics documenting "lies, misrepresentations and distortions" and claimed the $10,000 challenge payment. Rodale's laughed off the accusations and refused to pay expecting Evans to simply drop the matter and go away. He didn't. Instead, Evans filed a breach of contract suit. Three years later, after failing to provide the court with test data or any evidence whatsoever of an objective comparative testing methodology, Rodale's has essentially conceded defeat, is desperately attempting to put a lid on the scandal by negotiating a financial settlement, and for all intents and purposes, has admitted its equipment reviews are biased and fraudulent. | | Force Fins Meanwhile, Evans, who claims Rodale's fraudulent reviews have cost his company some $5 million in lost sales, says he's not looking for a big payday, or even a small one. What the owner of Force Fins says he wants is fairness and restoration of his company's reputation and the reputation of its innovative products. "I am devastated by what was done to me, my products and the diving public," Evans told CDNN. More from CDNN: Rodale's ads for waivers scam: Your eMail address is for sale © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
