Thursday, July 02, 2009

Anti-belly fat marketers: We got the message

Dear Internet advertising designers/developers: Please, no more about belly fat.

I need no more details about how we gain it, how to lose it, or how celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Rachael Ray have employed new and expensive methods for eradicating it. (And you can, too!)

Give me no more testimonials written by supposed local moms who claim to swear by Product A or Product B. Ditto for made-up blogs accompanied by grainy photos and very old comments expressing support, real or imagined.

But, most emphatically, don't show me any more photos of other people's belly fat when I visit a Web page -- and it happens nearly every time I click. (Try searching "belly fat." I got 2.8 million results. For research purposes, I clicked. Too many links included photos.)

Why in the world would some ad agency employee think that seeing someone squish their belly fat would make me want to click the photo to read more?

Please, stop.

I don't need anymore descriptions to know that it's bad or that, if I have it, I should get rid of it.

I certainly don't need a photo to know what it is.

And, here's a clue: When it comes to losing belly fat, you might inspire me more by what I might achieve -- not by what I might already be.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Probably I would take this blog post more seriously if the link to it on Charlotte.com's home page wasn't right underneath a belly fat ad.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. The pictures are just disgusting and for me do absolutely nothing to make me want to lose weight or purchase their product, whatever it is. I'm on a diet right now and doing it the old-fashioned way, the only way that works--diet and regular exercise. So far I've lost 7 pounds and plan to lose a lot more, all without the help of these so-called "fatbusters" and without spending lots of money on cringe-inducing food mailed to my home.

Anonymous said...

I think the key is to not "diet." Any time you put the word diet into the equation, you set yourself up for disappointment. Dieting almost assures that whatever weight you lose during your 1 -3 month change, will come back with a vengeance you get happy with your weight and revert to your old ways. As cliche as it is, you have to make it a lifestyle change. Eat lots of fiber in the form of fruits and veggies and get off your but to walk. It's the best cardio/low-impact you can do for yourself. Stop researching belly fat on the internet and start eating right and moving around and you'll start to see a change. Don't rush weight loss, a 2-3 lb weight loss per week is GREAT and HEALTHY. If you are losing 8-10 lbs in a week, it's water weight and it WILL be coming back!

Anonymous said...

And please get rid of huge yellow teeth!

Anonymous said...

Well, the paper will take ANY ad revenue it can right now. And to lose the fat, lay off the burgers/fries, turn off The View, and run around the block 20 times. Every day.

Anonymous said...

The pictures probably wouldn't bother you so much or might cause you to take action if you hadn't grown so accustomed to looking at your own belly fat in the mirror for the bast 20 years.

Anonymous said...

This blog = Charlotte Observer Belly Fat

Anonymous said...

I like my belly fat. It keeps me warm at night.

Anonymous said...

belly fat news or advertising is just a reflection of today's advertising or news on the net or elsewhere (tv, cell phones, paper etc)
lots of fat! period...over and over again; same old stories and same old advertising! Give me the paper newspaper anyday, where I choose to read the advertising or not, I use to read the online newspapers until advertising spoiled it for me......back to relaxing in a chair or deck and thumbing thru the good articles skippin advertising and no laptop or online newspaper reading anymore! due to all the FAT ADVERTISING, belly fat or pop ups of all sorts in my way!
Quality reading vs FAT reading if you know what I mean?

Anonymous said...

Get up and turn of the tv @ 4:30am, like I do getting ready for work, and you can't miss the stuff. I'd rather have 35 "marque" stations.

Anonymous said...

I'll take belly fat ads over those yellow teeth ads any day. Those are absolutely disgusting!!

Anonymous said...

I agree. Those ads are pathetic. And do they REALLY think that we believe that the flat stomach person EVER had belly fat?

Anonymous said...

What was that weight loss product years ago? AYDS candies, popular in the sixties for eating and losing weight. Ayds was an appetite-suppressant candy that came in chocolate, butterscotch and caramel flavors. During the 70s it was one of the top-selling weight-loss products if I recall correctly. Diet pills also were popular from a Dr.
Lots of kids grew up watching their mom's eating these candies; did mom really expect instant results; or husbands buying them for the wives and also expecting instant results?
Advertising for 'belly fat' is and will I suspect always be around. A magic solution making money in sales and advertising and who knows? a placebo? Ya Think? Did anyone believe this really worked back then or today these new products? Maybe?
In today's visual advertising world with instant advertising everywhere, with all the graphics involved (almost all areas of the human body seen)..tv, online, magazines; we complain and don't want to see this in this very visual world of advertising today! Instant, constant and everywhere advertising (whatever the product might be)! Don't believe that is going to change anytime soon?

Anonymous said...

I love the whiny fat chick blog.

Mary said...

I haven't seen the ads.

Anonymous said...

The reason we see so many of these ads is because....hello?....a majority of people are fat!! Since starting a good exercise regimen and changing just a few small things in the way I eat (notice I don't diet)I have lost almost 60 lbs. I am definitely no longer fat. But I am now more cognizant of those around me who are and it's sad that more than 50% of the people I pass by in a given day are overweight, some severely. How do people let themselves get this way? I was on the way to being way fat but I had something inside me say, "hey, you're letting it get away from you. Do something!" and I did. How can people let them get to where they can't fit behind a steering wheel or can't fit in an airplane seat comfortably? Belly fat ads? There's quite a market.

Anonymous said...

Funny 2 years to the date after this was originally published 8 out of 10 people in the USA over 25 are over weight. Some more so than others.

Wonder if the person that wrote the article was skinny?