I was googling for gelatin and health benefits and it seemed like there was some indication that gelatin may contain some amino acids which could be beneficial for joints? Then found other sites that indicated that in research studies, there was no difference between those who took gelatin and those that didn't.
Anyway, this site covers some history of gelatin, including marketing tactics like trying to promote gelatin as important:
http://www.vegparadise.com/news39.html
The AMA speaks
The study of gelatin as a food and medicine goes back well over 100 years. An article in the May 22/29, 2002 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reprints a story that appeared in that same publication on May 31, 1902. In the original article titled "Gelatin as a Food and Therapeutic Agent," the anonymous author describes how gelatin was injected into patients to increase the coagulability of the blood and was considered especially valuable in cases of hemophilia and aneurysms. The article revealed there were cases of people suffering from tetanus following the injections.
The JAMA article is quite clear about the lack of nutritional and therapeutic values of gelatin by making the following statement:
"Gelatin is an albuminoid substance obtained by boiling skin, connective tissues and bones of animals in water. When taken alone it has but little value as a food. Animals fed upon it exclusively rapidly lose strength and weight and finally die from starvation. If it is added to other foods, it possesses the property of limiting the consumption of non-nitrogenous materials and saving the waste of albuminous tissues. It takes no part in the repair and growth of tissues and must be considered solely as an 'albumin sparer.' Consequently, gelatin must always be combined with other proper foods. It does not replace albumin, and the destruction of albumin takes place to some extent even when gelatin is taken in large amount."