Diets and Propaganda Essay Example

Today’s magazines are filled with more than a handful of diet advertisement designed to appeal to just about anyone as they flip through the pages. Often times, people are easily tempted by these advertisements. Upon review of four nationally recognized diet product advertisements, each suggest quick and easy weight loss without diet and exercise. Each advertisement also suggests that taking a particular pill one, two, or even three times is going to be the best thing ever for someone who is overweight or just plain “fat”. These advertisements are aimed at those who are often willing to try anything that suggest that they’re not required to do anything more than consume the product that the advertisement is selling which is “eat this” or “swallow that”. The majority of people are apt to try the products advertised because they prefer the quick fix fad diet instead of making the effort to lose weight through long-term changes in their eating and exercise habits. Quick fix diets mislead readers by misrepresenting how fast and easy it is to take off the weight. The four advertisements use various types of propaganda to sell their diet product. The first product, QuickTrim uses bandwagon propaganda. In Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising by Gail McClintock, bandwagon propaganda is defined as “Advertisers pressure, “Everyone’s doing it. Why don’t you?”. The QucikTrim advertisement states; “Stop yo-yo dieting, let QuickTrim help you reach your goal. See what 14 days can do for you…jump start your diet with QucikTrim Burn&Cleanse”. Diet advertisements persuade buyers into feeling as though they will be on the winning side, the skinny side, while avoiding winding up on the losing side, the fat side. This can be misleading to potential buyers. What happens if they decide to get on the bandwagon, the winning side and potentially the skinny side and it doesn’t work? What happens then? Most are likely to see poor results and go back to yo-yo dieting