Weigth Loss Programs: The Truth behind Fad Diets

Obesity in the United States is a major issue. Because there is such a high obesity rate, there have been so many diets established to try and reduce these constantly rising rates. A lot of these weight-loss diets that have been established are known as fad diets. A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular quickly, and may die out just as quickly. In the United States, there are some popular and healthy fad diets such as the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, and Weight Watchers.

The amount of obese and overweight individuals is increasing every year in the United States. With 33.9% of American adults obese, and 34.4% overweight, but not obese, more and more people are looking for any alternative to lose weight (Anonymous 2011). If someone told you that they knew of a weight loss pill that actually works, would you consider it?

The purpose of the “Systematic Review: An Evaluation of Major Commercial Weight Loss Programs in the United States” was to determine if what the individual companies offer the customers of their

The fallacies in this ad are that this pill will not get you the results that you see these have just by strictly taking these pills as directed on the bottle. We all know that you must no matter what these ad say have proper diet and exercise in order for these pill to work there is no miracle pill that will allow you eat what you want to eat and still get the results that you see in the ad.

Advertisement of diet pills generally entails one or both of two appeals: their 'quick fix' strategy, and their composition of 'natural' substances. Magazine advertisement of Hydroxycut, which can be found in many women's magazines, focuses on the first method. At first glance, the full-page ad presents a young woman, obviously pleased with the effects of the treatment. Beside her smiling facade are photographs comparing her figures before and after taking the pills. The 'before' image depicts an unhappy, overweight, unfit, pale, disheveled individual. In contrast, the 'after' photo shows a happy, thin, fit, tan, made-up woman. Above these pictures, in bold type, is the quotation, "Losing 31 pounds was so easy with Hydroxycut!" Under this statement, the advertisement claims that Hydroxycut helps you "lose fat fast."

The advertisement that I have chosen to analyze for logical fallacies and rhetorical devices is an advertisement for Hydroxycut, a weight loss product. In it, there are various logical fallacies that are present. First, this advertisement somewhat appeals to ethos, or “relies upon/appeals to character, authority, or celebrity to persuade” (Softchalk). This is due to the fact that this advertisement relies upon the authority of a doctor to persuade. More specifically, it relies upon the fallacy of ad verecundiam, which “proper experts and authorities render valuable opinions in their fields and, ceteris paribus, should be believed when we are unable to come to a conclusion on more secure grounds” (Appeal to Authority). According to Dr. Nick Evans, this product contains “clinically proven ingredients [that] help you lose up to 4.5 times the weight than diet and exercise alone” (Hydroxycut). Appealing the the authority of a doctor is an attempt to provide strength to this product’s

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

There are many methods and tricks marketers, journalists, nutritionists or let’s say pseudoscientists use to impress people. The key one is their reductionist attitude; that is to ignore the placebo effect, make intervention claims by referring to observational data and even give claims by leaning on untested theories without conducting a well-controlled experiment (Goldacre, page 87); and if they do an experiment, it is not the

The food being advertised is extremely unhealthy and contributes to the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation.

What I can do to avoid fraud is to not believe in fast-acting products that promise miracles or products that do not have factual advice. Anything that says that "weight can be lost in just minutes a day" is not true because weight is not lost in "minutes." It takes work and time to be able to lose weight. I will also ask my doctor or my cousin,

Basically, these companies are promising healthy weight loss only to make money, knowing that in the end, it is only false advertisement. The worst thing about the media being such a big influence on children and adults is that no one in the media is willing to change the obsession with perfection. As people become more influenced, ill, and provoked, the media only continues to only publish magazines with stick thin models with perfect features.

The Impact of Pseudoscience on Consumers Pseudoscience is known by many as false science. Many consumers are convinced by companies that sells these products provide instant cures that lead to a healthier lifestyle. These products are scientific theories that have little evidence to back up their scientific claims. The Internet, health food stores, magazines, and commercials are just a few ways that companies can target potential consumers to sell their products. Medical information searched by consumers via the Internet has become the largest source of information worldwide. Consumers search the Internet for weight loss strategies, treatments for autism, anti-aging creams, male enhancement, and prevention of cancer and heart

In this report, Printup will provide all recommendations for the successfull marketing communication strategy and to ensure the long-term steady demand for Metabical. 3.1 IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM OVERVIEW OF OVERWEIGHT ISSUES IN THE UNITED STATE Excess weight is considered a public health crisis in the U.S, with approximately 65% of the entire adult population categorized as overweight, obese, or severely obese. Being overweight is related to a number of serious health complications, and according to the American Obesity Association in 2005, ³the second leading cause of preventable death in U.S. In addition to health risks, overweight individuals endure a significant social stigma as well as outright discrimination. Laziness and self indulgence are common stereotypes associated with this group. Many overweight people feel like social outcasts. The professional life of an overweight individual could also be negatively affected, as excess weight has been found to adversely influence, hiring decisions, wages, and promotions. Researchers and health care professionals measure excess weight using the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale. The BMI scale, which calculates the relationship between weight and height associated with body fat and health risk, is appropriate for both men and women. It has three BMI categories of excess weight for adults:overweight (25 to 30); obese (30 to 40); and severely, or morbidly obese (over 40). According to CDC

Society today has become a place where appearance is regarded as very important. It is believed that beautiful people are the happiest and most successful and when it comes to weight and physique size matters. Another social norm in our society is smoking. Whether it stems from the ideal that smoking is cool or from mere addiction, smoking has become so common that it is no longer frowned upon generally speaking however being overweight is. Women today especially want to fit into society’s perception of what the “ideal woman” looks like and will do almost anything it seems to gain this satisfaction. From gym memberships, extreme diets and exercise programs to the latest diet pill or supplement craze. Women will endure almost anything to be the ideal weight. Among these conceptions is the idea that smoking can prevent a woman from gaining weight or can assist in keeping the weight off. One familiar mindset is “what better way to stay thin than to smoke?” and it is a widespread idea. Though smoking can in fact be tied to benefits such as weight control, stress reduction and improved mood, it is still the number one cause of preventable disease and death.

Stated in the research, 70% consumer respondents are unhappy with their weight. Therefore, this shows that current drugs are not working well for this market, and a new drug like Metabical can be of assistance. However, when looking at the most appropriate target market Metabical would be most suited for college educated women between the ages of 35 to 65 because this market was more conscious to their health and the health industry. This is a differentiation because this drug would be able to identify a specific area of assistance that is not usually market by the competitors. However, after careful research Metabical can state that their specific target consumer would be an individual who didn’t regularly fluctuate with different weight loss fads because this consumer was statistically looking for better ways to protect their health and boost their self-esteem which has a projected population of 4.3 million women. This is an idea that Metabical competitors in and out of the weight loss bracket struggle reaching and with the company identifying this consumer they could become a leading