Cape Karen
Misery makes money.
The latest misery moneymaking scheme comes endorsed by Oprah and is from her friend, neighbor and personal fitness guru, Bob Greene. It is yet another “catchy” fitness/diet program. This one is called, “The Best Life Diet.” (Hey! I thought Oprah didn’t believe in “dieting?”)
This one comes complete with a new website, a dieter’s Best Life cookbook (to add to the unread pile) and even some Best Life exercise videos to dust-off once a month. But, worst of all – lots of everyday foods, like Cheerios, that have been around for generations, can now be found on your grocery store shelves featuring Bob Greene’s smiling face and a little “Best Life” sticker. It’s a marketer’s dream-scheme! They’ll sell more Cheerios, now that they are on Bob’s “approved” list, and he’ll clean up. (Does he profit by having his photo on the boxes? Of course he does ~ with every box sold!)
This is all about Bob making more money, (thanks to Oprah’s public endorsements) and maybe it's even a teeny-tiny bit about encouraging people to get thinner and/or healthier. But, let’s face it, without a nutritionist, a trainer, or a life coach - and unless some serious health problems are motivating them, most obese people aren’t going to wake up one day, see Bob Greene’s face on a box of frozen spinach, and suddenly decide to lose hundreds of pounds. The sad thing is, millions of overweight people will buy this Oprah-endorsed cookbook and the foods plastered with his new label, and some might even go so far as to buy his workout videos, in a motivated moment; but few will really change their diet long-term, change their lifestyle and start exercising or lose any significant weight. (The only immediate weight loss will come from the lightening of their wallets.)
Yep. I think this commercialization of good health is getting a bit carried way. Like today, when I saw “Omega 3 Orange Juice” ~ now that just sounds ‘fishy’ to me! And, I can’t imagine what it tastes like? (According to one nutritionist, there isn’t enough Omega 3 in there to make even one little fingernail stronger. They’ll say anything on their packaging to make a buck these days.) Marketing moguls and their money-sucking vampires are always trying to tap into what they perceive as our misery. Every day we are assaulted with products that don’t work and volumes of false advertising. So, what’s a person to do?
Well, I’m all for heavy people shedding unwanted pounds, and for us older people to think about clearing our arteries, but we sure don’t need Bob Greene, or anyone else, selling us “their” products in order for us to do it. Our misery shouldn’t be their ‘ticket to ride.’ That’s called “exploitation” in my book, and I’m sick of it. I have a brain. I know that whole wheat bread is better for me than white bread. I don’t need a skinny, smiling face, or a silly sticker on the package, to tell me what’s good for me and what’s not.
So, as for me, I’m just not going to by a box of Cheerios with a “Best Life” sticker on it, or anything in the grocery store that has a smirking, smiling face staring out at me.
I've made the connection. . . .
