However, The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine contended the weight loss claims were false and misleading. The group, in a 2005 petition, asked the commission to order a halt to the dairy advertisements.

The agency did not take that step, but said in a letter to the committee that the groups behind the ads planned to end them.

“It is obvious that the industry did not have a leg to stand on,” Neal Barnard, president of the Washington-based doctors committee, said today. His group advocates a vegan diet, which typically includes no animal products.

The two marketing campaigns at issue involve the “Milk your diet. Lose Weight!” ads on television, the Internet and in magazines, and the “3-A-Day. Burn More Fat, Lose Weight” ads, which are now mostly Web-based.

The FTC, in a letter May 3 to the committee, said the agency met with Agriculture Department officials and representatives for the two campaigns, which decided “to discontinue all advertising and other marketing activities involving weight loss claims until further research provides stronger, more conclusive evidence.”

The twist this time is that the participants aren’t in competition with each other. Indeed, if they all stay together by the end of the walk, they can share in a $1.2 million pot. On the other hand, every time someone drops out – or is voted out for being too much of a drag on the others – the pot is reduced by $10,000. - CTNow