Buyer Beware: Celebrity Endorsements For Weight Loss Products
Supplement retailers love celebrity product endorsements. There’s nothing like getting some smoking hot Hollywood actress (or actor) or a super-buff high profile fitness trainer to provide a personal recommendation for your weight loss or diet product.
Consumers, desperate in their quest to lose weight, are willing to dispel any doubts and buy on the celebrity’s say so alone. Retailers rely on this. They know that many people believe that if you’re mega-rich, beautiful and in killer shape, it’s because your financial wherewithal and celebrity status gains you access to the types of products that us normal people just dream about.
That is not the case.
Celebrities that are in killer shape must do what all of us must do; eat right and exercise. A LOT.
Sure, having a ton of money means you can hire your own personal chef to prepare 400 calorie meals for you and you can afford to hire the best and most motivational trainers, but in the end it all comes down to calories in Vs. calories out…
- If you consume more calories than you expend, you gain weight.
- If you consume less calories than you expend, you lose weight.
- If you consume exactly what you need, you stay at a consistent weight.
And that’s true for any celebrity, no matter how ripped or gorgeous he or she may happen to be.
Celebrity endorsements for weight loss products work in a pretty simple manner: the company in question gives the celebrity in question a ton of money for publicly endorsing the product. Whether or not that celebrity actually takes the product is an entirely other matter.
Of course, you probably aren’t under the impression that Kim Kardashian had anything to do with the formulation of the Quick Trim products she endorses.
But you might assume that perhaps Jillian Michaels (who has her own line of products—we’ve reviewed several, the Extreme Maximum Strength Fat Burner, and the Maximum Strength Calorie Control!) might. Unfortunately, having credentials as a successful personal trainer does not translate over into competency or knowledge of weight loss products and the clinical data (or lack thereof) that supports the various ingredients. There’s certainly no indication Jillian Michaels contributed any more than her name to her product line.
This point was brought home recently when we reviewed Bob Harper’s new weight loss pill, “Smart Weight Loss Fat Burner.” Bob is also a trainer from the popular T. V. show “The Biggest Loser.” In the product advertising, Mr Harper is quoted as saying…
“That’s why I helped create this Smart Weight Loss Formula – with clinically proven key weight-loss ingredients, plus a naturally sourced energy boost to get the most out of your busy lifestyle!”
Well, when we took a closer look at the product formula, we discovered it was almost a carbon copy of several products already in existence: a weight loss product called WeighLevel (manufactured by Sprunk-Jansen) and the Hydroxycut Hardcore Pro series diet pills.
Obviously then, Mr. Harper had no more to do with formulating the Smart Weight Loss Fat Burner than we did with orchestrating the moon landing.
Bottom line?
It is a simple one; all celebrity endorsements must be approached with a great deal of caution—regardless from whom they come.
