Is the 'quick and easy diet' industry morally right?
You must have seen the adverts that have been flooding prime time TV at the moment, all claiming to be the holder of the next big quick and easy diet secret. But is this whole industry a 'get slim quick' scheme for the obese, or a 'get rich quick' scheme for optimistic individuals?
The products on offer seem to range massively, despite the fact that the stated effects are identical. Ranging from pathetic little tablets to 3 cooked meals a day delivered to your door, should we buy into such schemes?
This whole industry seems to rely on the fact that consumers don't read the small print. Next time one of these TV ads comes on, read it yourself. Chances are they say something like "only works in combination with healthy eating and exercise". Even this is cryptic because surely healthy eating and exercise is all you need to diet? Yes it is, meaning that what these businesses are really saying is "it does absolutely nothing".
Surely selling a product that doesn't work is treading on thin ice when it comes to business morals? Well that's entirely my point. The entire business plan for these products consists of responding to the desperation of consumers. Take a look at the photo above, nearly 2/3 of the world is obese and overweight! Can't say that they lack a target audience.
Now consider this, the vast majority of obese/overweight people would rather be slimmer, that bit's obvious, and obviously fair enough. The problem is that this makes them desperate to try and find a new revolutionary product that will solve all of their problems. Producers know this, and can therefore charge way over the odds for a pretty ineffective product.
This wouldn't happen in any other market, so why should it be tolerated here? I really believe this is something we need to think about. Products like those mentioned above shouldn't exist unless strong statistics provide solid evidence for their effectiveness.
So my take home message from this post/rant is pretty simple. Avoid these stupid products and boycott these businesses. Despite what people may think, they are only out to capitalise on the desperation of consumers. Sure you may lose quite a few pounds, but only from your wallet.
The products on offer seem to range massively, despite the fact that the stated effects are identical. Ranging from pathetic little tablets to 3 cooked meals a day delivered to your door, should we buy into such schemes?
This whole industry seems to rely on the fact that consumers don't read the small print. Next time one of these TV ads comes on, read it yourself. Chances are they say something like "only works in combination with healthy eating and exercise". Even this is cryptic because surely healthy eating and exercise is all you need to diet? Yes it is, meaning that what these businesses are really saying is "it does absolutely nothing".
Surely selling a product that doesn't work is treading on thin ice when it comes to business morals? Well that's entirely my point. The entire business plan for these products consists of responding to the desperation of consumers. Take a look at the photo above, nearly 2/3 of the world is obese and overweight! Can't say that they lack a target audience.
Now consider this, the vast majority of obese/overweight people would rather be slimmer, that bit's obvious, and obviously fair enough. The problem is that this makes them desperate to try and find a new revolutionary product that will solve all of their problems. Producers know this, and can therefore charge way over the odds for a pretty ineffective product.
This wouldn't happen in any other market, so why should it be tolerated here? I really believe this is something we need to think about. Products like those mentioned above shouldn't exist unless strong statistics provide solid evidence for their effectiveness.
So my take home message from this post/rant is pretty simple. Avoid these stupid products and boycott these businesses. Despite what people may think, they are only out to capitalise on the desperation of consumers. Sure you may lose quite a few pounds, but only from your wallet.