So, I’m cruising around on the Personal Care Products Council website, as you do, and I notice something ah, interesting under Links of Interest:
Right at the top of the list of “Government” links, there’s this site, CosmeticsInfo.org. So what’s that? A government-sponsored website for cosmetics info? I’m so in! I love government-sponsored information. All unbiased and trustworthy and… what’s this?
Well, that’s the “About Us” page over at CosmeticsInfo.org. Where they explain:
The Personal Care Products Council (the Council) and its member companies sponsor this Web site to provide consumers with easily accessible comprehensive safety information on cosmetics and personal care products and to help consumers make informed purchases.
So, Cosmeticsinfo.org is “an information Web site that includes factual, scientific information on ingredients most commonly used in cosmetics and personal care products in the United States.” Which is brought to you by the beauty industry’s main trade association.
Who is not the government of anybody. Just so we’re all clear.
Any point in asking them to remove the “Government” distinction on the PCPC site?
Also, the acronym for that site is the pretty close to PCP, aka phenylcyclohexylpiperidine, aka angel dust, aka a hallucinogenic neurotoxin abused by thousands. Coincidence?
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked for the health care team of a large PR agency, whose clients included pharmaceutical companies and interest groups.
Government websites, as a rule, will have the “.gov” suffix, while interests groups tend to use “.org” (so they will garner that extra credibility). We designed microsites for our clients that were meant to look trustworthy, informative and neutral, but the ultimate goal was to portray our client in the best light possible. There are plenty of legitimately neutral, non-profit organizations, but there are just as many sites put up by the industry.
Like you did, it’s a good idea to check the about page first to see who is really behind the website you’re visiting. Any PR agency worth their weight will keep some level of transparency, and it is usually placed on the about page.