The Dangerous Combination of the Media and the Weight-Loss Industry

Real guys ripped results is what this ad says.Hydroxycut the perfect diet pill/fat burning pill, a pill that will boost energy and at the same time burn fat and increasing the muscle definition. We all want to lose weight and get that body back that we had as a young adult or in our youth, this is what the advertisement says to the consumer. What caught my eyes as I turned the pages of the flex magazine were of course the ripped up models that were on the pages. The ad shows you all these perfect body models that say they have taken this pill to help them look this way with a before and after picture.

The product more or less receives a seal of approval without the consumer ever really knowing whether the “expert” is truly an expert at all. The professional’s actual doctorate may not even be in the medical field, but in a completely different field and unrelated all together. This is done because viewers ask fewer questions about a product or information when backed by a professional. This tactic is used to gain the trust of the viewers. Once they have the viewers’ trust in hand, Iovative Health Sciences, Inc., persuades these young female viewers to believe almost anything that they want them too. These women become inclined to believe that Hydroxycut will work for them; fast, easy, and with no hassles. This method of gaining the female consumers trust coupled with Hydroxycut ads’ other advertising fallacies for example, the airbrushed and digitally enhanced photos along with Hydroxycut’s over exaggerated or falsified statements; make their already vulnerable female audience more susceptible to their deceptions. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an agency created to protect America’s consumers, drew up a report called, “Weight-Loss Advertising: An Analysis of Current Trends,” which investigated weight-loss advertising. In 2001, a content analysis found that over half of all advertising for weight-loss products used fabricated, unsupported claims. In an investigation of 300 ads from

Advertisements have one primary purpose that is to persuade. Prescription medications Ads tell the consumers to get treatment and also imply that they have the need for it to solve their problems. Since prescription Ads have been introduced, the pharmaceutical

It’s estimated that nearly 1/3 of people suffer from obesity in North America. Rather than being a part of the solution, the media has a portrayal of what one should and should not look like, what is beautiful and what is not, typically possessing unrealistic standards and showing those that are overweight, as weak-willed individuals, who generally are blue collared individuals. This paper shall discuss obese individuals and how they are portrayed on television or on online streaming programming. Secondly, this paper shall discuss why this group has such a negative portrayal. Third, this paper will discuss what social pressures and production forces shape these portrayals. Finally, this paper will incorporate a media theory and explain what effects it has on the audiences and how obese individuals are typically treated in society.

Is obesity really a serious health concern or is the “epidemic” merely a result of highly fabricated, misleading ideas of politicians and the media? The article, Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic? By W. Wayt Gibbs featured in the May 23, 2005 edition of Scientific America, raises this question. Most health experts and average people believe that obesity is one of the most prevalent health concerns today, resulting in increased risk for other major health issues; such as; heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and the chance for early loss of life. However, other researchers are suggesting that the consequences of being overweight are being blown out of proportion. Naturally, they do

Have you ever been watching television and a commercial for Hydroxycut comes on featuring a male or female who went from 250 pounds to 150 pounds and looks like a fitness model just from using Hydroxycut? Although these results may seem extreme this is what many fitness advertisements promote; portraying unrealistic body images and displaying false results. Fitness advertising can be found in print and broadcast forms. While fitness advertising can be viewed as having both positives and negatives, I believe fitness advertising is negative. This paper will discuss the negatives of fitness advertising, to include creating negative body images and promoting false results. It will, also, address the counterarguments against fitness advertising being negative.

In a society which shames a curvy body and worships skin and bones there are various weight loss supplements, programs and exercise routines to help individuals achieve that ever desired appearance. One weight loss supplement is featured in the August 2015 issue of Family Circle magazine, a supplement powder called Almased. The advertisement for this product is meant to appeal to the eyes and needs of its target audience, the multitude of people trying to lose weight or become healthy; however, upon closer analysis of the advertisement as a whole, many aspects may draw a person towards the product but simple color scheme flaws may lead potential buyers elsewhere.

they will, people continue to buy these things. An advertisement for Hydoxycut, in Fitness Magazine, shows a beautiful woman in a white

For my satire project, I focused on the topic of Obesity for which to find a humorous solution. Today obesity is an exponential problem in the United States. Americans are evolving into the laziest humans in the world because we don’t want to work towards the goal of being fit; all we want to do is take a pill and wake up skinny in a week’s time. The industry for weight loss and its advertisement has gone way too far, and they are steering us in a bad direction. Likewise, my targeted audience would be the industry of diet planning and those who fall into the trap of “losing thirty pounds a month” with a formulated shake or pills. Given these points, my purpose for this assignment is to expose the ridiculousness of the weight loss plans in today’s

According to the Britannica Encyclopedia, diet pills are products containing amphetamine prescribed especially to promote weight loss by increasing metabolism or depressing appetite. This means the consumer is making their body do something it should not do by blocking it from absorbing a third of the fat it ingests (WebMD, n.d.). Michelle Heaton, a famous Liberty X singer, suffers from atrial fibrillation, also known as AF, a heart disease where the heart may stop for a few seconds and then restart and have an irregular heartbeat. She discovered she had this disease after suffering from a scary attack. Her husband, Andy Scott-Lee brought her to the hospital. There, they ran a blood test, as they thought she was

It is no secret that in today’s world most people are unhappy with their physical appearance. Women, particularly, struggle with their perception of overweight, unproportioned bodies. Meanwhile, icons such as Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Eva Longoria, and Kim Kardashian flaunt bodies of perfection that every woman dreams of having. Women become obsessed and determined to put themselves through tough weight loss regime to achieve the hot, sexy, beach body look of these celebrities. That is not necessarily a negative because weight loss provides empowering and rewarding outcomes for people’s lives, but there are several different options that people have when it comes to losing weight. For example, liposuction or eating healthy and exercising. It should be no surprise that liposuction is becoming more and more of an acceptable way to lose the extra pounds, but it’s not the best alternative to diet and exercise. When debating on either getting costly liposuction or committing to a rigorous healthy eating and exercise routine, it becomes evident that healthy eating and exercise boast far more benefits; those desiring a Jennifer Lopez beach body should stick to dieting and exercise and should avoid going under the knife to obtain the best overall results.

According to the National Eating Disorder Association the media has a major influence on what a woman’s body should look like. Every print and television advertisement suggests that the ideal body is extremely thin. However, most women cannot achieve having a super-thin body that the media favors. The resulting failure leads to negative feelings about one’s self and can begin a downward spiral toward an eating disorder (National Eating Disorders Association).

Today 's society is constantly presented with misrepresentations of the ideal body image through the advertising of diet plans and supplements. Companies in the fitness industry scam people into buying useless products or services by advertising with individuals that have, what the mass media sees as, the 'perfect ' body composition. In addition to getting consumers to buy into a product or service, these companies also aid society with the spreading of this fake idea of what classifies as the perfect body. They portray a body image that is unattainable for most individuals in society, despite how many of those supplements being advertised they buy. The models used in these advertisements, are in most cases, starving themselves, enhanced via illegal substances, or are photo-shopped to the point where even they do not look like the model displayed in the ad. All this has led to many people wanting to strive for that perfect body, that in reality, is impossible to achieve. In order to show the affect these advertisements play in our society, I will be deconstructing multiple ads in the fitness industry, as well as multiple peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles centered around the impact media has on an individual 's self-image.

Many people can relate to media being the blame for eating disorders because they’ve either dealt with this or know someone who has had an eating disorder due to what the media says you should look like.

CREDIBILITY STATEMENT:I have been searching and reading about many stories of women who were the victims of these pills for the last Being a pre-medical student who cares about making the life ofpeople better, I feel that it is my responsibility to set awareness among women on the tragic consequences of taking slimming pills.