The Horrible Herb Show

The White House telephone operator was frantic. "Some guy on TV in Philadelphia," she said, had just told angry consumers to phone complaints directly to the President, and the switchboard was jammed. The guy was Herbert S. Denenberg, 46, lawyer, author (seven books), former college professor, hell-raising former Pennsylvania insurance commissioner (TIME, July 10, 1972), and currently one of the funniest, roughest consumer-affairs reporters ever to read fine print on a label.

Since he began his evening-news spots on Philadelphia's WCAU-TV 16 months ago (after losing a 1974 bid for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination), Denenberg has flayed the makers of more than 150 products, from sedatives to sugarless gum. Horrible Herb, as he is known among his victims, spices his vitriol with humor. One recent broadcast: "I make sure I get my exercise, get enough rest, and eat healthy food. So I don't need Geritol."

Denenberg is not merely a reporter; he sometimes adds action to excoriation. When he noticed that the antidote on the labels of all wood-alcohol products was medically unsound and possibly fatal, he filed a successful petition with the Consumer Product Safety Commission for new labeling regulations. Two weeks ago Denenberg petitioned the commission to order all U.S. poison labels--some 50,000--rewritten.

Denenberg is one of at least 50 TV consumer reporters in the U.S. They are a new and embattled breed. John Stossel of New York City's WCBS-TV faces $25 million worth of lawsuits, and Orien Reed, Denenberg's counterpart at KYW-TV in Philadelphia, says she has lost count of the actions filed against her. But Herb Denenberg? He has provoked not a single lawsuit. Not a single advertiser has threatened to cancel.

One reason is that Denenberg and his unpaid staff (three student interns and his wife Naomi) check and recheck every word in his scripts. Moreover, his legal, academic and government experience puts him on equal footing with many company lawyers. Says he: "I know my neck is on the line."

Denenberg has a couple of product defects: a nasal twang and a face that could stop a utility rate hike. "I don't use makeup," he sighs. "I discovered I looked worse wearing it." Still, Denenberg outran Walter Cronkite in a 1973 Pennsylvania poll on trustworthy public figures. Some colleagues suggest the scourge is using TV as a launching pad for another shot at public office. Denenberg admits, "I would like to have more resources."

For now consumerism dominates his life: in his spare hours, he writes a weekly column for the Philadelphia Bulletin and is working on a book on health care. Says he: "My greatest satisfaction is keeping some kid from drinking poison or making some Government agency do what it's supposed to do. For relaxation I go out and read food labels."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.