This past weekend, I woke up extremely early and pondered upon a new exercise advertisement on TV. The ad was for Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis exercise program. At first, the advertisement seemed rather similar to others promoting certain exercise programs. Yet this particular advertisement was, in my opinion, extremely superficial. First, as a ploy to lure in consumers, the ad showcases Tracy Anderson, a beautiful blonde with blue eyes, posing in her exercise equipment. Soon it became apparent to me that the ad was not selling exercise at all. In fact, the ad's main purpose was to sell sex. As Tracy introduces herself, she is dressed in a tight fitting tan dress. Her hair and makeup are styled to perfection and of course, her boobs are popping out. Hence, the idea pops into a consumer's head that if they buy this product, they can become sexy as well.
What really struck me about this advertisement was the program's name: Metamorphosis. In the ad, Tracy promises to completely transform your body by utilizing an exercise regime that is tailored to your own body type. When showing women who had used the product, I was completely shocked. When I think of Metamorphosis, I think of a complete transformation. Hence, I thought obese women, women who should be actually changing their bodies, would be showcased on the ad. Instead, seemingly "normal" sized women were portrayed in before shots. I found this shocking, for these women were obviously pressured to tone up their bodies, hence changing their physical and mental state. As utilized before, these women were overly sexualized. They appear, like Tracy Anderson, in tight fitting dresses that emphasis bigger boobs, a smaller waist, and a curvy behind. Overall, the advertisement company is purposely sexualizing these women to proclaim that if you use their product, you will become sexy. In their eyes, sexuality equates to acceptance to society. To achieve this, all one has to do is pay 3 payments of $29.99.
Lastly, the use of famous celebrities to sell this product makes consumers more susceptible to buy it. Within the first minute of the 30 minute advertisement, the announcer asserts that famous celebrities such as Gwenyth Paltrow & Courtney Cox have used Tracy's expertise to achieve their slender figures. Of course, these celebrities can afford to have personal training sessions with Tracy in Beverly Hills. By placing her exercise regime on the public market, a consumer feels they are receiving "high class" treatment for much less. Obviously, they are losing out, for they are not receiving one on one interaction with a trainer. Yet, because Tracy's program is endorsed by Gwenyth Paltrow, one is led to believe that she will obtain her body by using the product. In reality, a celebrity like Gwenyth Paltrow not only receives personal training, but pays dieticians and personal chefs to prepare and cook a meal plan that will always keep her slender. By paying $90 (plus shipping and handling) for a simple workout routine, one cannot be promised to obtain Gwenyth's body. Despite this, the name Metamorphosis tricks to consumer to believe that it is as simple as buying an exercise program to essentially transform into a celebrity.
All in all, Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis program uses society's obsession with celebrities, over - sexualization, and thinness to force the consumer to pay an unnecessary amount to obtain the perfect body. While I believe there is no issue with selling exercise programs, I feel they should be targeted to extremely overweight/obese men and women who desperately need to lose weight, not women who already have normal and healthy bodies but feel they need to look like super slender Gwenyth Paltrow. Yet, I believe this shift will not come into effect until people realize how unreliable these programs are. While they may work for some people, not everyone will be able to do the program successfully and lose the amount of weight that's appropriate for a healthy lifestyle. When watching these types of ads, it is easy to overlook this aspect, for participants that are featured are the small percentage that have had tremendous results. Hence, this leads the consumer to believe that such results are obtainable. To end, I believe the best way to lose weight is to diet and exercise properly under the supervision of a doctor or trained professional, not some trainer who one may never come into contact with.
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