The idiom ‘snake oil salesman’ is one of
my favourites in the English language, not only because of how fitting it has proven to be during current public health debates but also because of its interesting origins. The snake-oil scam has its origins in the deceptive American appropriation of Chinese traditional medicinal practices, following the popularization of medicinal snake oil by Transcontinental Railroad migrant workers. In the opportunistic spirit of late 19th century US capitalism, businessman-doing-business Clark Stanley patented a “miraculous” rattlesnake oil cure that was vaguely reminiscent of Chinese traditional medicine. By the early 20th century, both the claim about the effectiveness of rattlesnake oil and the presumption that Clark Stanley’s product contained actual snake oil had been debunked, earning the phrase ‘snake oil salesman’ its infamous meaning.
Contemporary pseudoscientific scams continue to illustrate this concept. Thanks to modern-day Stanley Clarks, the commercialisation of ineffective products using the guise of enlightened medicine often continues to appropriate cultural practices and traditions. However, during the last few decades, we can identify varying emerging trends among pseudoscientific scams, whether we are talking about Big Essential Oil™ challenging nationwide vaccination programmes or fraudulent cosmetic companies profiting off of societal pressures on the female body image. Inserting scientific-sounding language in cosmetic product descriptions and commercials has proven to be a highly successful business practice, partially due to a misinformed public, but also due to the vulnerability of the target audience. Due to ever-changing and ever-growing expectations
G-YOU MAGAZINE// FESTIVAL // NOV 2021 // 10
ON SNAKE OIL SALESMEN, PSEUDOSCIENCE, AND THE ETHICAL DILEMMA OF SKINCARE MLMS
