Truth & Integrity Review of a Recent Direct Mail - "Salba" vs "Chia"

Ok. I admit it. I'm a closet "junk mail" reader. Because I enjoy copywriting, I review a lot of direct mail pieces in order to keep up with trends in copywriting - particularly in alternative or naural health, since this is a field of great interest to me. I am also keenly interested in how truthful these mailings are - and even more importantly, whether they are advertised with integrity.

(Quick disclaimer: I have nothing against people making money. I have nothing against people making a lot of money. I just like to work honestly and with integrity - and I want to buy from people who value honesty and integrity.)

So - back to the topic at hand. I recently received a mailing regarding a particular superfood that - according to the copy, "leaves broccoli, blueberries, flaxseed, soy and salmon in the dust!"

I love hearing and learning about various high-octane superfoods, so I read through the mailing. It discussed this near "perfect food" which has so many benefits, one would think that there would never be any need to eat any other food again. Throughout the mailing (by NorthStar Nutritionals, Frederick, MD), this miracle food was first referred to by the name "Salvia Hispanica L."

It was the next paragraph that made me smile - "And when modern researchers ran tests, THEY NEARLY FELL OVER...They noticed that Salvia Hispanica L. came in two colors - black and white. The black ones proved unremarkable. But the white ones tested off the charts!"

(I have to chuckle when I picture researchers nearly falling over in their excitement over a discovery. It's a great image!) The mailing talks about about how scientists bred a strain of white seeds, and named this "supergrain" Salba.

Right there, my little spider senses began tingling, and I stopped reading and went to the computer and looked up Salvia Hispanica L. which was clearly identified as "chia" seed within about 3 seconds on my Google search.

So, now I felt forearmed, and read the rest of the mailing, which goes on to sing the praises of Salba for a good 22 pages.

I sensed that the writers and nutritional company anticipated people like me looking Salvia Hispanica L. up on the internet, because later in the mailing, in a shaded box at the bottom of the page, we are warned not to be fooled by "wanna-be" seeds - which are the common black chia seeds that are offered for sale to consumers.

There is no doubt that the company is warning us, because this little box begins with the word, "WARNING:" (it reminds me of the warning label one might see on packs of smokes or on bottles of liquor).

I am not going to get into the debate about the virtues of "white chia" versus "black chia." If you would like to read a lively discussion on this topic, there is a great forum at Wordpress, with a thread started by "LeisureGuy" - and I highly recommend visiting and reading this discussion. Let's just agree that chia is, indeed, an outstanding food. I use it nearly every day, and I love it - it's the primary ingredient in my breakfast drink.

What I want to bring to the reader's attention is that - as exciting as this mailing makes Salba sound - remember that it is advertising copy. If the copywriter did his or her job correctly, the company's phones are undoubtedly ringing off the hook. And, hopefully the copywriter made a bunch of money on the mailing.

The other thing I want to bring the reader's attention to is the price. You have probably already guessed that this product is not cheap. They didn't spring for more than 22 pages of advertising to sell you something you can buy at your local health food store or favorite online vendor for just a few dollars.

Here are your price comparisons: The product being sold as Salba is approximately $30/pound (plus shipping and handling).

To be fair to that company, if I purchased their product on their auto-ship program, they wouldn't charge shipping. If I purchase 6 bottles, they would only charge $159.70 with free shipping - which drops the price to only $26.66 per pound.

Anyway, if we mosey over to our friendly and nutty buddies at one of my favorite online stores - Nuts Online (Yes, I'm partial to them, and No, they don't pay me to advertise their name - they don't even know I'm doing it) we can buy white chia seeds ($7.99/pound at this writing) OR black chia seeds ($6.99/pound at this writing). Plus shipping and handling. But, I can guarantee that they won't be charging you $26 to ship it. I just experimented with purchasing 5 Yummy pounds of white chia seeds - which dropped the price to $7.75/pound. Then, shipping to my address was only $7.87 via either FedEx or UPS, 2-day delivery.

So, for whatever my thoughts are worth: At the end of the day, I did feel that the mailing regarding Salba was truthful overall - at least about chia seed's benefits as a wonderful food source. I don't know enough about the company to voice an opinion on whether or not they value integrity. My only misgivings - if they be called that - were about the "warning," which I feel was uncalled for, and the price, which seems extremely high for what the product actually is.

Thanks for reading!