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-   -   Do you want to know what really ticks me off? (https://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums/off-topic/2509-do-you-want-know-what-really-ticks-me-off.html)

almeeker 11-29-2010 03:19 PM

Do you want to know what really ticks me off?
 
Commercials for diet products. You know as a nation when we start to throw down names to blame for the obesity epidemic, you never hear anyone bad mouth the diet industry. However over the last several days as I've been belly up on the couch (sometimes wishing for death) I've spent some QT with the telly. Anyway I cannot tell you how many times I heard someone in a diet aid/product say something to the effect of "You just can't do this by yourself, so you need to buy blah blah blah..." EXCUSE ME? I almost got as mad as that DWTS Palin Daughter hater dude, and shot my TV.

So I would like to invite anyone with a least favorite diet commercial to blast away here.

01gt4.6 11-30-2010 01:44 AM

there are key words (or phrases) that the "industry" uses that "we" fall for. Words such as "as much as", "up to", "as little as". I translate that to "no more than", again "no more than", "at least".

Example "You can lose up to 30 pounds in as little as 30 days." For one this doesn't say you will... but you CAN lose no more than 30 pounds in at least 30 days." In other words if you lose 1 pound, that is "up to" 30 pounds so it is true.

How about my own line.... During my weight loss period, I'd have cheat days, like everyone else. My weakness is a Butterfinger. So could say (and it's true) "I lost 40 pounds while eating Butterfingers!" That is totally true but very misleading.

The one thing that many of us ignore is the one that is in our face "RESULTS WILL VARY." Just b/c Joe Schmoe did it, that doesn't mean that you'll get the same results, in fact you know that they picked someone at the end of the bell curve to put in their ad.

rpmcduff 11-30-2010 02:36 AM

"Results are not typical" . Yeah because 99% of the people using this supposed miracle drug, dreamed up by a guy with a degree in Marketing, don't lose any weight.

LisaAnnie 11-30-2010 04:16 AM

Commercial the other night, "... eat all you want and still lose weight".

Riiiiight

Lizzycritter 11-30-2010 03:32 PM

Not a diet per se, but the PediaSure commercials bug me. If your kid was eating what was in the food pyramid in the commercial, there would be no need for this product, even with the "holes". SlimFast annoys me too, let's learn to eat healty by replacing real food with chocolate bars and milkshakes. If they made meal replacement bars that tasted like food instead of candy, maybe I'd buy them. Veggie ranch bars anyone?

Also off topic but i HATE the bikini trimmer commercial where the hedges get magically pruned when the lady walks by. Totally tasteless.

rpmcduff 12-01-2010 03:58 AM


Originally Posted by Lizzycritter (Post 27001)
Not a diet per se, but the PediaSure commercials bug me. If your kid was eating what was in the food pyramid in the commercial, there would be no need for this product, even with the "holes".

My wife and I currently have a foster son (2 yrs old) that had a presciption for PediaSure (A bad idea in my opinion) when he came to us. He had problems gaining weight where he lived before. Unless the kid is not getting enough fat or sugar then I don't know what nutrient "holes" this is filling.

An 8oz serving has 240 calories.
*Total Fat: 9g
*Total Carbohydrate: 32g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 18g
*Protein: 7g

The worst part is the way they inhale it. Kids will literally come up gasping for air before they stop drinking it. Like they are addicted to a drug and can't get enough.

By the way he has no problem gaining weight when eating what the rest of our family eats.

almeeker 12-01-2010 04:19 AM

See I was right rpmcduff is one of the good guys, he even takes in foster kids. Good for you. Oh, and the stories I could tell you about nutritional supplements for children.... One of our children was allergic to wheat for the first several years of her life. We went to a support group just to make friends we could have play dates with. Anyway one particular family was giving their son nutritional supplements on the advice of their pediatrician, when they could just as easily have been feeding him food. Now he's pretty much addicted to chocolate milk, it's really sad.

Lizzycritter 12-01-2010 06:36 AM

I'm glad it's not just me. Sometimes I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall.:mad:

SailorDoom 12-01-2010 06:53 AM

Not really a criticism of a specific diet, but I'm always bothered by ads for "food-like products" (as author Michael Pollan puts it). Like Lizzy, rpmcduff and almeeker implied, I can't believe some of the stuff that passes muster as "part of a balanced diet".

*sarcastic voice* A tiny number of teeny cardboard cookies with imiatation chocolate chips in a foil package? It may be pumped full of chemicals, but its a calorie controlled portion! Some rubbery licorice? It may be almost nothing but sugar and stabilizers, but its free of saturated fat! Frosted sugar bomb breakfast cereal? Now made with whole grain and enriched with the very same vitamins that were removed during the massive processing required to make it palatable to your undernourished hyperactive kids!

Sorry for the rant, but I truly do not understand why people are so grossed out by the thought of eating something with less than 5 ingrediants in the list. As much as I hate ads, I would welcome a commercial for the lowly apple, some plain ol' brown rice, and so on...

Aside from that, the shake weight commercial is always good for a laugh!

Edit: Oh! Also those butt-shaping shoes and clothes! As if the models in the commercial attained that body from strange-looking shoes! Shoes! Now, I'm not saying they wouldn't encourage an otherwise inactive person to get movin', but any product that so many companies are cashing in on simultaneously seems pretty suspect in my book...

Lizzycritter 12-01-2010 06:57 AM

Frosted sugar bomb breakfast cereal? Now made with whole grain and enriched with the very same vitamins that were removed during the massive processing required to make it palatable to your undernourished hyperactive kids!

I laughed out loud and startled my sleeping cat! :D Interesting coincidence, most of my cooking is done with 5 ingredients or less.

tandoorichicken 12-01-2010 09:45 AM

Wow, you guys really hit all the big ones.

I cringe every time I hear an ad for Lipitor. I mean, granted, there are some people who need to be on a statin, but the way it's handed out like candy is criminal (and that doctor who thinks fast food joints should hand out statin pills alongside ketchup and mayo with that burger is a whole 'nother story)

canary52 12-03-2010 03:15 AM

I also hate the "butt shoes"; the ads look like soft porn.

Also, is anyone getting sick of seeing Jillian's face on this site? I know she's helped people and people like her workouts but I just feel like throwing darts at my computer sometimes when she pops up.

And I'm with you guys on the real food issue. As Micheal Pollan says: "If it comes from a plant, eat it, if it's made in a plant, don't eat it."

Lizzycritter 12-03-2010 11:47 AM

I agree on the 'butt shoes', those women have such huge wedgies going on!

cjohnson728 12-03-2010 11:53 AM


Originally Posted by Lizzycritter (Post 27367)
I agree on the 'butt shoes', those women have such huge wedgies going on!

Probably the fact that the shorts are really spray paint...

I figure I just need to come up with some dumb weight loss gimick and I can retire. Some of these ideas are so far-fetched my cat could do better...and people still want an easy way out, is what it boils down to.

mtlgirl 12-03-2010 12:22 PM


Originally Posted by canary52 (Post 27290)
Also, is anyone getting sick of seeing Jillian's face on this site? I know she's helped people and people like her workouts but I just feel like throwing darts at my computer sometimes when she pops up.

I'm with you, Canary52! I liked Jillian a lot at first and I actually work out to her DVDs but I don't even look at the TV screen anymore. I feel like she is really overexposed and has gone way too far. If you look at her web site, she sells tons of books, DVDs, and diet pills too now! It's too much.

Also can someone explain to me why The Biggest Loser is 2 HOURS long?! Geez. Really NBC? It needs to be feature length every week? Plus, the whole show is a long commercial now. There's so much product placement it's sickening.

Lizzycritter 12-03-2010 02:03 PM

Easy way out, exactly. Take this pill, shake this weight, and magically you don't have to suffer the consequences of your actions. Or inactions as the case may be ;)

Lovedogs4ever 12-03-2010 03:27 PM

I actually love seeing weight loss ads on TV. It truly inspires me. I mean if people can sell "cookie diets" and "lose like a million pounds without even trying" or "if you wear this crazy thing that will make you not be able to breathe, everyone will think you are thin when you are not" for lots of $$$$, why can't I? (Oh I forgot my favorite, "drink the juice of this magical fruit and your pounds will fly off you like a rocket for only $500 a bottle! YIPPIE! Sign me up for a hundred bottles!)
If it looks to good to be true is probably is...unless it will help you lose weight.

nottango 12-04-2010 12:22 AM

Things don't change
 
I remember when I was in college 25+ years ago the professor pointing out that if you look at the cover of any women's magazine, you'll find the latest diet and the latest dessert recipe. Over the years, I've checked whenever I'm standing in the grocery store line - and it's still true!

vabeachgirlNYC 12-04-2010 04:31 AM

The 100 cal packs still confuse me are the biggest joke ever IMO.

I usually skip the middle aisles but one time when I was comparing ingredients on triskets a woman came up to me and told me "there's a whole aisle of 100 cal packs over there so you don't have to do that!" She had a cart full of them and probably can't figure out why she isn't able to lose the fat!

I hate that people fall for those gimmicks or believe there is a magic pill that will permanently solve their bad eating habits.

canary52 12-04-2010 09:40 AM

I love that, Loveddogs4ever, the pounds will fly off you like rockets.

And it is so true, Nottango, open any woman's magazine and you will get the Walk Your Weight Off Diet and the Holiday Cookies That Will Keep Your Family Coming Back For More.

And we wonder why we are all so crazy on this?

But I will confess. I have bought 100 calorie packs. Not a cart full, mind you, but for lunches. It is simply portion control (there's a marketing strategy for you) and the fact that these cookies are not nearly as tempting (or satisfying) as their "real" counterparts so you don't want to eat as many!

Deblgallagher80 12-15-2010 02:50 AM

This isnt about a commerical per say but I recently had a co-worker who was doing all the right things when it came to weight loss. She would work out, drinks lots of water etc, expect when it came to the food she was eating. She would bring Lein Cusines and weight watcher meals, stick it in the micorwave and eat it like candy. Then shed complian about no weight loss. I laughed and said well no wonder with what you eat. She said what do you mean? This is diet food! I promptly showed her the nutrional facts and she said shes neveractually read that. She goes by the front where it says low fat! low sugar! no carbs!..pfft I told her she would be better off making those same meals herself..so now she does :)


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