January 12, 2001
Issue #29

Interview with a Hero!
by OX

OX:  Before I begin this interview, I want to explain a little bit what this is all about.  The last decade as surely been a strange one for the bodybuilding industry.  Strange?  Let me change that to TERRIBLE!  I will be honest and admit that a few good things took place such as the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).  For those that don’t know, this allowed companies some freedom in designing and marketing supplements and it allowed the consumer freedom to choose for himself what he wanted to take.  Besides this though, some very ominous stuff has been taking and place and it’s only gotten worse.  It’s like there’s no end to the black hole; no end to how low this industry will stoop. 

I truly believe that things will begin to change though very soon.  You see there are people in this industry who truly care about the consumer; truly care about their industry.  As with anything, change comes by means of leadership.  It is not simple!  It comes by hard work and dedication.  Many times you have to risk something or maybe risk a lot.  The interview you are about to read should motivate you that you can make a difference.  You can make a difference in your life, in other’s lives, and in this industry.  At the end of the interview I will challenge all of you readers to look deep inside and find the courage to stand up and help the cause.  It is important to where this industry goes in the future. 

The gentleman that I am interviewing is a true leader in this industry and wishes to remain anonymous for obvious and non-obvious reasons.  For the sake of this interview, I will call him Mr. Eastwood.

OX:  Mr. Eastwood, could you explain a little about yourself.

Mr. Eastwood:  I have been involved in bodybuilding all of my life.  I have loved it since I was thirteen years old.  I remember looking in the bodybuilding publications of the day at all the fantastic physiques and wishing one day that I could look that good.  I actually didn’t start lifting until I was fifteen but when I did, I didn’t stop. I mean it was great!  Like some type of endorphan surged into my brain every time I touched the weight.  Today, I am nearing forty years old and weigh 210 at 9% bodyfat.  I stay in good shape all year round.  It is part of my life.  I never miss a workout.  Never!

OX:  How are you so involved in the bodybuilding industry? 

Mr. Eastwood:  I am not allowed to tell you or I would have to kill you!  Just kidding!  Actually, I am a consultant in the industry and work with some of the top minds not only in this industry but others as well. 

OX:  What problems do you see in the bodybuilding industry that you want to change?

Mr. Eastwood:  I could go on and on I guess.  Years ago, things were different, that’s for sure.  Like all other industries that I have ever seen, the bodybuilding industry had magazines and it had supplement companies.  I am not going to say that they didn’t mix and match a little but there weren’t any unholy cooperations and partnerships going on.  Things were simple back then.  You had advertisers and then you had the magazines themselves.  Over the last ten years, something so corrupt has happened that it has defrauded millions of people in the United States as well as stolen millions of dollars from advertisers.  I have been watching this for awhile but only lately did it occur to me to do something about it.  It is the most terrible thing that has happened to this industry. 

OX:  C’mon Mr. Eastwood, stop holding me in suspense and tell me what this big problem is.

Mr. Eastwood:  Like I said, I would have to kill you.  Anyway, quite simply, the corruption is the untoward/unholy relationships that have been established by the magazines and supplement companies.  There is hardly an unbiased magazine on the shelves right now.  The consumer is terribly confused by all of the nonsense that he has read and advertisers have been seriously defrauded in the process. 

OX:  Honestly, when you first mentioned it to me, it didn’t sound like a big deal.

Mr. Eastwood:  Think about that for a minute.  You have seen corruption for so long that you have gotten accustomed to it and now it doesn’t seem so bad.  Let me ask you a question:  what would you say if the New York Times bought a watch company and then decided to run front page “articles” on its watches talking about how revolutionary they were and how everyone needed one, etc, etc. 

OX:  I would be appalled.  This would be a clear case of fraud!

Mr. Eastwood:  Exactly!  Now that puts things in perspective doesn’t it?  Now, I want you to take a moment and think about what is going on in the industry.

OX:  Hmmm.  Now I see what you are talking about.  It does seem quite bad to me, but what is the legal status of all of this.  How do you know it really is illegal?  Maybe the bodybuilding industry just figured out a good thing!

Mr. Eastwood:  First, we have hired some of the best legal council in the industry and have reviewed both civil and FTC cases and I can assure you that this behavior is both fraudulent and illegal.  The reason why other industries don’t do this is because it is simply unethical and illegal and they don’t want to be sued for millions or fined for millions by the FTC.

OX:  How did all of this get started?

Mr. Eastwood:  I will admit that Bill Phillips at one point did a lot of good for the industry but the overall effect of his actions have been disastrous.  He discovered that the bodybuilding industry was not a mainstream niche and not something that was highly scrutinized by federal officials or class action law firms.  By accident, he found that he could use the magazine to gain the trust of the reader and then strategically divert their attention to buying supplements that he highly promoted.  As so many times happens, greed comes into play and it is hard to be satisfied.  Blindness set in and this fellow took his approach as far as he could.  He became incredibly rich and the rest of the industry stood by looking in awe.  Some of the industry couldn’t believe he was getting away with what he was doing and others were devising plans to make themselves as rich as Bill Phillips by simulating the same scheme.

OX:  Interesting.  Where are we now?

Mr. Eastwood:  For some reason, the FTC has never pounced on this industry and it has gone unchecked.  I will say that there will be a reckoning though and very soon.  The present state of the industry is terrible.  Think of your favorite magazine and I will bet you that is owned by a supplement company.  The ownership is not necessarily the problem.  The problem is that this relationship is used in a way to defraud people.  Honestly, Weider has taken a lot of flak the last few years but his magazine are probably better than the rest.  They might not be perfect but you don’t see blatant attempts of defrauding going on.

OX:  What are you doing about this?

Mr. Eastwood:  I have formed a coalition called CHIBAP which is Coalition for Honesty In Bodybuilding Advertising and Publishing.  We have certain goals and objectives and won’t rest until this industry is upturned so to speak. 

OX:  Are you going after any particular company or companies or is it the entire industry?

Mr. Eastwood:  Eventually, we will go after the entire industry, but right now we have one or two companies/magazines in sight because they are the worst of the worst.

OX:  Can you tell me what you plan on doing to bring these companies and magazines into compliance?

Mr. Eastwood:  We have a three pronged attack we are setting up.  The first is that no less than five and as many as twenty companies will initiate a joint lawsuit against the unholy relationships for damages against their companies.  Our second goal is to ensure that class action lawsuits are initiated in no less than ten states for defrauding the American consumer.  If nothing else, this will literally cripple the unholy relationship with millions of dollars of payouts.  Third, the coalition will be going to the FTC to initiate a government investigation into the fraudulent practices. 

OX:  How do you plan on proving these things?

Mr. Eastwood:  Fortunately, some of the work has already been done since for one of the companies we have a letter which admits the unholy relationship.  This alone is very incriminating.  Besides that, the multitude of subpoenas for documents should prove quite easily the relationship.  You might be able to hide the relationship on the surface with some fancy paper shifting, but the money never lies.  Show me the money and I will show you where the truth lies.

OX:  Is there anything that will stop you on your mission? 

Mr. Eastwood:  At this point, it is hard to imagine turning back.  However, if we saw a good faith effort that the company was refraining from its very childish activity then we would almost certainly reconsider.  We want things fixed and put in their proper place.  No one likes to do the things that we are doing here but sometimes there is little choice.  We are not being vengeful at all; just wanting the best for everyone.

OX:  What advice do you have for the readers here?

Mr. Eastwood:  My advice is to be very careful who you open you ears to.  Once you start listening to lies, you might start believing those lies.  Before long, you might start repeating those lies.

Clearly, the best magazine on the internet or not is Anabolic Extreme.  I am very impressed with what I have seen and it appears Jason is interested in doing things the right way.  He keeps the magazine separate from the sponsors and let’s the reader know when the sponsor is “talking”. 

One thing that I always say is that when you do things right, it pays off.  Sure the bad guys seem to get away with stuff but in the end the good guys win.  Let me give you an example:  I was talking to Jason the other day and he was telling me how fast the magazine is growing.  From the figures he was throwing out, it wouldn’t surprise me if he is not the fastest growing publication in this industry.  People respect truth and they respect quality.  These are two things Jason is giving them. 

OX:  I totally agree with you.  Jason mentioned putting Anabolic Extreme into print.  I am really hoping for this! 

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Mr. Eastwood:  I want to remind you to talk to the readers about helping us out.

OX:  To close things up, Mr. Eastwood needs your help to make CHIBAP work.  They have people willing to initiate class actions in two states but they need many more.  If you feel that you have been damaged by an unholy relationship, please write: