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| March/April 2013 Issue |
Recently, Weight Watchers' new sponsor has been American Idol season three finalist Jennifer Hudson. Hudson in 2012 wrote an autobiography detailing her weight loss endeavors. According to an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show Hudson lost eighty pounds. Her infamous Weight Watchers' commercials have been played over and over and over and over and over again, making us fat slobs lying on the couch in our bathrobes eating stale Doritos because we are to lazy to get up and buy new ones feel a little bit, well, fat.
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| May/June 2007 Issue |
Jennifer Hudson wasn't the first spokesperon for Weight Watchers. Weight watchers has a long history of spokespeople, manly spokeswomen.
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| January/February 2007 Issue |
(right) have joined the ranks of Jennifer Hudson as the spokeswomen for Weight Watchers. Actresses Lynn Redgrave (below, left) and Jessica Simpson (below, right) have also been spokeswomen for Weight Watchers.
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| January 1984 Issue |
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| November/December 2012 Issue |
And that raises the question, how come only famous women are depicted on Weight Watchers? With a little more research, I discovered that famous men had also used and endorsed Weight Watchers, but they were not as heavily commercialized. Professional basketball player, now retired, Charles Barkley is the only man I've found picture evidence was on/took part of Weight Watchers and even then he didn't appear on the front cover of a Weight Watchers magazine issue.
This makes me wonder what the advertisers of Weight Watchers are thinking. Do they believe that men do not sell as many magazine covers than women? Is their target audience male or female and do either respond better to a female spokesperson or a male spokesperson? Do they believe women struggle with weight more than men and that they would respond better to another woman struggling with her weight loss? Countless other questions could arise that would take hours to configure and answer. Nonetheless, there is definately a method to their madness.
An obvious technique used in the advertisement is testimonial because each Weight Watchers issue or picture focused on someone famous who endorses the product. Also facts and figures could be a technique because Weight Watchers advertising tells the audicence exactly how many pounds so-and-so lost.
Definately the need to achieve is present throughout several Weight Watchers advertisements because each endorser has a goal of so many pounds to lose and they accomplish it, with the help of Weight Watchers. Also phsyiological needs could be used because Weight Watchers frequently displays foods and healthier alternatives that appear lushious at not at all green, gross and smelly like they are in reality.
So why do advertisers predominantly use women on the covers of Weight Watchers magazine?
How the hell should I know? I don't work in New York for some advertising firm!
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