Abstract
This study examines six decades (1930 to 1990) of weight loss advertising in the New York Times, using a combination of qualitative content analysis and textual analysis methods to understand how the discourse of weight loss has evolved over the years in the United States. The findings of the study show that the discourse of weight loss evolved from self-control to self-improvement. It also notes greater representations of white women in weight loss advertising. Women’s portrayals evolve from glamorous and thin to curvaceous, feminine and sexually appealing, to youthful, bold and confident and finally to strong and muscular. The study concludes that weight loss advertising reflects the changing roles for woman in society, while simultaneously influencing attitudes about beauty and body though the creation of new cultural images. Collectively, the advertisements cultivate the belief among women that by controlling their bodies through diet and exercise, women can achieve success in all aspects of their lives, from relationships to careers.
The diet and weight loss industry today is worth more than $62 billion (LaRosa, 2012) and is likely to grow in the coming years as America’s waistline expands and Americans look for ways to fight overweight and obesity. Weight loss advertising has long been a part of American consumer culture, but relatively few studies have systematically examined the content of weight loss advertising. A few contemporary studies have approached the subject from the regulatory perspective. For example, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC Staff Report, 2002) compared magazine advertisements from 1992 and 2001, and found that false and misleading claims were common in weight loss advertising, and that they had increased over the years. Galloway (2003: 413) concluded that ‘weight loss product manufacturers [were] preying on vulnerable consumers through the use of false and deceptive advertising campaigns’. Very few studies have exclusively examined the role of weight loss advertising in a larger cultural context and in the promotion of the thinness ideology (see Fraser, 1998). Even fewer studies have historically examined representations and messages in weight loss advertising. Advertising can be a rich source of cultural history and can help uncover ideologies, roles, and cultural values of different time periods (Frith, 2007; Grady, 2007; McLuhan, 1964; Pope, 1983). Advertisements can also serve as ‘historical texts that contain within them the trends of the times: what people wore, how people related, and what types of people were ‘of significance’ in a given period of time’ (Frith, 2007: 2). McLuhan (1964: 232) argued, ‘The historians and archaeologists will one day discover that the advertisements of our society are the richest and most faithful daily reflections that any society ever made of its entire range of activities.’
Given the cultural significance of the advertising, I examine six decades (1930–1990) of weight loss advertising in the New York Times using a combination of qualitative content and textual analysis. With a focus on target audiences, appeals, messages and persuasion techniques, I explore how the discourse of weight loss has changed, and how weight loss advertisers have promoted the thin ideal and maintained the ideology of thinness over the years.
Often referred to as the ‘newspaper of record’, I chose the New York Times because it is one of the most influential newspapers in the United States with high circulation rates, and a readership of nearly equal numbers of men and women (MRI, 2014). The readers of the New York Times are usually educated individuals with high median income (MRI, 2014). My focus on newspaper advertising from a 60-year period is important as historian Stearns (2002: 19) argues, ‘the most interesting commercial surge denoting the burgeoning diet craze showed up in daily newspapers, where advertising restrictions were lenient and where the tastes of a fairly diverse reading public might be mirrored.’ The point of this study is not to generalize but rather to provide an historical snapshot of the changes in the discourse of weight loss. The delineated period of study ends in 1990, for as Sivulka (2012) notes, post 1990, media became much more fragmented, and advertisers started to move away from newspaper advertising to niche media. In this article, I discuss how social changes and economic interests of advertisers have interacted to create a culture in which thin white bodies have been privileged in the United States. In my analysis, I emphasize feminist critique, given the focus on white women and teenage girls in weight loss advertising.
Literature Review
Culture of diet and weight
American fat plays no small role in the contemporary world if only because it is unusually voluminous and evident. It serves as a national symptom and symbols. And while American-ness can be overdone, there is a distinctive national experience that is both fascinating and cautionary. (Stearns, 2005: 239)
The history of fat in the United States is said to parallel other Western cultures, where fat was associated with health and aesthetics (Stearns, 2005). Historically, in females, attractiveness was associated with plump bodies, and in men, it was seen as a sign of prosperity, good health, and good judgment (Klein, 1996; Stearns, 2005). Saguy and Gruys (2010: 233) explain that ‘body weight has long been a marker of social status.’ When food was scarce, bigger body size symbolized higher status. This changed with greater availability of food when it was possible for poor people to become fat (Farrell, 2011; Fraser, 1998; Saguy and Gruys, 2010). Symbolically, higher status then began to be assigned to thin bodies. For middle and upper-class western cultures, thinness became a sign of morality (Fraser, 1998, 2009) and success (Bruch, 1978). Fat bodies, on the other hand, became equated with gluttony and deviancy (Degher and Hughes, 1999), passivity, lack of self-control, and a taking up of too much space (Farrell, 2011; Huff, 2009; McKinley, 1999; Schwartz, 1986; Sobal and Maurer, 1999). By the late 1900s and early 2000s, fat and fat bodies also became a symbol for denigrating immigrants, blacks, and women who were claiming full rights as citizens (Farrell, 2011). Social anxieties related to gender, race/ethnicity and class were often expressed through images of fat men and women in the media, who were shown as lazy, uncivilized, wealthy, greedy, lacking self-control, lacking grace and balance, and sexually loose and repulsive (Farrell, 2011).
These cultural anxieties and attitudes toward fat were picked up by the diet industry that started to sell products for body management including restraining garments such as corsets, bustles, and bustiers, as well as elixirs, pills and various other products (Sterns, 2005). Health insurance companies also started to stress weight issues based on some early research in Europe, which was then taken up by doctors in the United States in the form of regular weight checks for their patients (Stearns, 2005; Schwartz, 1986). The fashion industry and the media started to circulate images of slender bodies and stressed their importance. Thus the media, the fashion industry, and the medical community together helped to further construct an ideal of beauty, body and health in which slim bodies began to be idealized and fatness disparaged; an ideal that is still desired today (Brewis et al., 2011).
Fat continues to be a topic of vigorous debate at the intersection of economics, politics, health and social justice. Historians, sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, medical professionals, economists, feminists, and media scholars have all studied fat from different angles using different theoretical frameworks. As a result, the literature on fat is vast, rich, complex and sometimes contradictory. It is beyond the scope of this study to present all the debates surrounding fat, so here I present a few contemporary discussions.
In recent years, many scholars have challenged the very premise that fat is a problem and have questioned the current narrative of the ‘obesity epidemic’ (Boero, 2007; Campos, 2004; Firth, 2012; Oliver, 2006; Saguy, 2013). Other researchers have criticized the media for framing obesity as an individual problem, and not a social problem. Researchers argue this puts the onus on individuals to resolve the problem, even when it is beyond their control (see Barry et al., 2011; Gollust et al., 2012; Hawkins and Linvill, 2010; Kim and Willis, 2007; Lawrence, 2004; Saguy, 2013). The consequences of this includes feelings of guilt and shame for individuals who fail to lose weight, increased health insurance costs, and a lack of public accommodations for people who are deemed fat (Saguy, 2013).
Not only has the individual framing of fat been criticized by scholars, but Firth (2012) draws attention to the racialization and gendering of fat, noting that African American and Hispanic women are often represented with weight issues, suggesting a lack of self-control. A study by Gollust et al. (2012) supports Firth’s criticism. The authors note that images from the news media tend to over-represent non-whites as overweight or obese. On the other hand, images of successful dieters are usually those of white women (Boero, 2007; Saguy and Gruys, 2010).
In advertising, fat, or the lack there of, represents a problem that has been exploited for economic gain. There is a significant amount of research on male and female bodies, body image dissatisfaction and weight obsession, particularly among young women (see Cortese, 2008; Kilbourne, 1994, 2010; Myers and Biocca, 1992; Waller et al., 1992; Wykes and Gunter, 2005). Scholars have been critical of the way in which advertisers rarely represent the diversity of body shapes and sizes seen in men and women today. Women are ‘slender, typically tall, and long legged’ (Cortese, 2008: 59), and men ‘resemble the mythical Adonis – handsome, chiseled, smooth, well groomed, healthy looking and a hairless body’ (p. 69). These standards of beauty are difficult for average individuals to achieve, hence billions of dollars are spent each year on products and services such as pills, lotions, diets, cosmetic surgery and dentistry, in a quest to achieve the ‘ideal’ body and beauty. Many scholars point to the media, particularly advertising, for creating unrealistic expectations and body dissatisfaction among men and women (Botta, 1999, 2000; Bordo, 2003; Henwood et al., 2002; Kilbourne, 1995, 2010; Wykes and Gunter, 2005). Feminist scholars have argued the promotion of the thin ideal has contributed to negative body image and eating disorders among girls and women (Bordo, 2003; Nichter, 2000). Men, on the other hand, face a different kind of pressure, that is, to have to have a ‘six-pack’ of abdominal muscles and a massive chest, ‘a combination of muscularity and leanness probably achievable only by drugs’ (Pope et al., 2000: 34). Hyper-muscular images of men in advertising have been found to affect men’s self-image and self-esteem (Elliott and Elliott, 2005) and increase body dissatisfaction (Agliata and Tantleff-Dunn, 2004).
Cultural critique of advertising
Advertising’s primary function in society is economic, that is, to create demand for goods and sell products. But advertising does more than sell products; it sells ideals, values, emotions, relationships, role models, rituals and cultural traditions. Many scholars have raised concerns about advertising’s social and cultural impact. Williams (1980: 185) for example, criticizes advertising by saying: Beer would be enough for us, without the additional promise that in drinking it we show ourselves to be manly, young at heart, or neighbourly. A washing machine would be a useful machine to wash clothes, rather than an indication that we are forward looking or an object of envy to our neighbours.
Dyer (1982), like Williams, criticizes the exploitation of values in advertising by stating that the use of values corrupts genuine feelings and that words lose their meaning when they are used lightly to sell products. Advertising’s ubiquity and its role encouraging materialism and consumerism in society has been much debated and criticized, as has its promises of simple solutions for complex human and social problems, problems that cannot be simply addressed through conspicuous consumption (see Leiss et al., 2005; Williams, 1980).
Much cultural criticism of advertising comes from Marxism and neoliberalism. The central idea put forth by cultural studies scholars is that media texts, including advertising, are not neutral or naturally occurring artifacts, and that someone creates them for a specific purpose and to communicate a specific message (Clarke, 1997; Rose, 2001). Cultural scholars thus associate media texts with power and a reflection of ideologies of the dominant class, who through circulation of specific images and messages maintain hegemony in society (Hall, 1997; Jhally, 1987, 2003; Leiss et al., 2005). They often note that advertising both reflects and recreates culture (Hall, 1980) and thus it is important to examine advertising in order to resist ‘formulaic responses’ (Stanworth, 2002: 113). Schroeder and Zwick (2004: 24) consider advertisements as aesthetic objects, socio-political artifacts, and place them ‘within a system of visual representation that creates meaning within the circuit of culture’.
Visuals play an important role in advertising by communicating complex ideas and information about lifestyles, moods, values, roles and identities without the need for lengthy ad copy (see Goffman, 1979; Dyer, 1982). Advertising visuals help to create a symbolic environment that allows people to imagine and bring together their known and unknown worlds. Advertisers frequently use elements of a culture in tandem with desired and desirable values to target consumer groups to make their products more appealing. Thus, examining visuals in advertising that contribute to the visual culture in society has been an important part of cultural studies. Cultural scholars often try to understand ‘what is being represented, why, and to what effect’ in order to resist the hegemony created by the dominant groups (Stanworth, 2002: 106). Feminist scholars particularly have been interested in the use of visuals in the media because they argue visuals have the power to ‘orchestrate and reiterate patriarchal power relations’ (Jones, 2003: 4).
Thus, in order to better understand how thinness has been privileged and maintained and fatness disparaged and stigmatized in American society in the 20th century, I examine the representations in weight loss advertising. In particular, my emphasis is on weight loss visuals in advertising to provide a better understanding of our complex relationship with our bodies, how fat has been viewed in American culture, why certain groups feel more pressure to be thin than others, who is valued in society and what has changed in the weight loss discourse. My investigation using the New York Times through the years 1930–1990 is guided by the following research questions:
RQ1: Who is represented in weight loss advertising?
RQ2: What products are offered for weight loss?
RQ3: How is the audience persuaded to lose weight?
Method
Qualitative content analysis allows for coding of manifest content and, coupled with textual analysis, allows for more in-depth exploration of latent content and embedded meanings in the text. It allows for situating the media text in its cultural and historical context, providing a deeper analysis, and a clearer explanation of empirical findings leading to the revelation of hidden meaning and ideologies (Fursich, 2009; Larsen, 1991; Stern, 1996). For this study, I engage in content analysis followed by a textual analysis of a few representative advertisements to give the reader a better understanding of the changes in weight loss discourse.
Sample
Weight loss advertisements from 1930–1990 were downloaded from the New York Times historical database using the keywords ‘weight loss advertising’. After removing classified advertisements and news articles, 240 advertisements made up the sample.
Coding categories and procedure
The coding categories for the qualitative content analysis were developed after thorough initial examination of the content within the advertisements. The unit of analysis was a single advertisement. The categories were measured as follows: Sex: male only, female only, and male and female. Race/ethnicity: Caucasian, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, and other. Type of product advertised: diet drink, drug/supplement, exercise equipment, weight loss spa/vacation, weight loss nutritional program, and other. Messages: improved appearance, more energy, youthfulness, health, reduction in size, and other. Persuasion techniques/appeals: testimonial, sex appeal, demonstration (how the product works), price/value, informational (benefits), emotional, fear/shock, celebrity endorsement, urgency (act quickly, sales end tomorrow), humor, problem-solution (slice of life), before–after, and other.
For the analysis, I divided the advertisements into four distinct time periods or eras of advertising history to show more distinct changes from one era to the other. The four eras are: the Depression and War years (1930–1945), Postwar Boom years (1946–1960), the Creative Revolution years (1961–1975), and the Positioning and Image Building years (1976–1990) (Sivulka, 2012).
In the findings section, the research questions are answered first by using the frequencies to show who and what is represented most. Then, textual analysis of a few representative advertisements are performed to contextualize the numerical findings, explain the relationship between social changes and weight loss advertising, reveal ideologies and assumptions of weight loss advertisers, and highlight the evolution of themes, messages, and persuasion techniques.
Findings
The findings show that the number of weight loss advertisements increased over the decades (see Figure 1). The sample contained eight weight loss advertisements from the Depression and War years (1930–1945), 14 from the Postwar Boom years (1946–1960), 39 from the Creative Revolution years (1961–1975), and 179 from the Image Building years (1976–1990). It is interesting to note in the sample that the number of weight loss advertisements increased dramatically in the 1980s.
Increase in weight loss advertisements as noted in the sample.
Overall, the findings show that a majority of the advertisements focused on white women. African Americans and other races were altogether absent from weight loss advertising. However, in the Postwar Boom era (50.0%, n = 7) and Creative Revolution era (30.8%, n = 12), a greater proportion of advertisements targeted both men and women.
Even though various kinds of weight loss products and messages were advertised in each era, the emphasis varied slightly in each of the four eras. For example, in the Depression era, the advertisements were mostly for drinks that would help women lose weight. These were not specialized weight loss drinks, but fruit juices that were marketed for weight loss. In the Postwar Boom years, exercise equipment (50%, n = 7) and spa and vacation packages for losing weight (35.7%, n = 5) were more prominent. In the Creative Revolution years, the largest proportion of the advertisements was for exercise equipment (41%, n = 16). These were novel gadgets developed to help people lose weight. In the Image Building era, there were a greater number of weight loss spa and vacation advertisements (61.5%, n =110) and advertisements for diet and nutritional programs (25.1%, n = 45). One also notices a greater variety of products being offered, including drugs and supplements, gyms, diet books, surgery, nutritional programs, equipment, and even hypnosis.
In terms of messages and persuasion techniques used by advertisers, reduction in size was the most prominent message in all four eras, which is somewhat expected; however, one does notice some interesting differences. For example, 50 percent (n = 7) of the Postwar Boom years, and 59 percent (n = 23) of the Creative era advertisements promoted improved appearance as a benefit of weight loss. These messages were much fewer in the Depression (12.1%, n = 1) and the Image Building years (19%, n = 34). The message about an increase in energy was more prominent in advertisements from the Depression era (25%, n = 2) and Creative Revolution era (12.8%, n = 5) than they were in other eras. Youthfulness was most promoted in the Creative Revolution era (25.6%, n = 10) and was practically absent or negligible in all the other eras. Improved health messages such as heart health, longevity, and increased strength, were more prominent in the Creative Revolution era (20.5%, n = 8) and Image Building era (25.7%, n = 46) than they were in Depression (0%) and Postwar Boom era (14.3%, n = 2).
The advertisers persuaded consumers using various appeals. In most advertisements, more than one appeal was found. In the Depression and War and Postwar Boom years, a combination of demonstration and testimonials was common. Celebrities were often present in the advertisements, but they did not directly endorse the product. Testimonials were present in 100 percent (n = 8) of the Depression era advertisements and in 50 percent (n = 7) of the Postwar Boom weight loss advertisements. Demonstration, that is, detailed instruction on how to use the product, was present in 87.5 percent (n = 7) of the Depression era and 71.4 percent (n = 10) of the Postwar Boom era advertisements. Sex appeal was most prominent in Postwar Boom era advertisements (21.4%, n = 3) compared to other eras. Price and value related appeals were present in the majority of the Postwar Boom era advertisements (78.6%, n = 11) and Creative Revolution advertisements (51.3%, n = 20) perhaps to entice the consumers who had come out of difficult times and were more price-conscious. A majority of the advertisements particularly in the Image Building era (89.9%, n = 161) and Creative Revolution era (89.7%, n = 35) were informational in nature and highlighted the benefits of weight loss. Informational advertisements were also high in the Postwar Boom era (50%, n = 7). Other appeals such as emotion, before and after, and problem-solution if present represented less than 10 percent of the advertisements in each era.
Textual analysis of weight loss advertisements (1930–1990)
According to Vagle (2006: 205), ‘Texts are invariably embedded in contexts. Processes of text production and reception rely, not only on “what is in the text,” but also on resources “between,” “behind” and “beyond” the text elements themselves. Contexts are historically specific.’ In the paragraphs below, textual analyses of a few representative advertisements from each era are presented. These advertisements highlight the most prominent theme of that era, embedded meanings, assumptions, and ideologies of the advertisers. They also show how first and second waves of feminism influenced messages and persuasion techniques in weight loss advertising. For example, in the Depression and War years (1930–1945), we see a focus on self-control, and advertisers suggest losing weight at home by avoiding overeating. In the Postwar Boom years (1946–1960), one of the prominent themes was enjoyment, to have fun, and advertisers suggested losing weight by going on vacations and to spas. In the Creative Revolution years (1961–1975), the advertisers focused on youthfulness, which could be achieved through exercising using novel exercise equipment. In the Positioning and Image Building years (1976–1990), the advertisers focused on self-improvement and promoted weight loss through various diet programs and plans (see Table 1).
Primary messages and products advertised for weight loss over the years.
Self-control (1930–1945): Lose ‘ugly fat’ at home by avoiding over-eating
Between 1930 and 1945, America went through the Depression and WWII. This was a difficult time for the public as food and other supplies were short. Men left home to take part in the war, and women entered the work force to aid in the war effort. In terms of advertising history, this was a period of the hard sell as cash-strapped consumers needed extra convincing to buy products. Thus, advertisers often tried to convince consumers through detailed advertising copy and ‘reason why’ advertisements (Sivulka, 2012). Weight loss advertising of this time was no different; it contained detailed reasons as to why one should buy the product and promoted weight loss using themes of conservation, glamor, and heroism, themes that reflected both desired and desirable values of the consumers, particularly women.
During this time period, weight loss advertising particularly focused on self-control and suggested diet control by avoiding overeating. If one examines the focus of this message in the context of first-wave feminism when women were fighting for greater participation in public life, one can see how the advertisers were trying to play on the idea that women had to be ‘fit’ for greater rights and participation in the public sphere. Fat, as Farrell (2011) rightly notes, was seen as a sign of impulsivity (also femininity and weakness), and thus, for women to increase their rights to participation ‘in a man’s world’, they would have to exert more self-control as demonstrated through body weight.
The advertisements primarily targeted white middle-aged, middle-class women through the use of glamor and celebrity endorsement, an appeal frequently used by advertisers for products targeted at women at that time (Sivulka, 2012; Sternheimer, 2011). This is perhaps to show that success was possible for ordinary middle-class women who were struggling to make ends meet. In most of the advertisements of this time, women appear in evening gowns looking very glamorous, slim, elegant, and very thin (see Figures 2 and 3).
Weight loss advertising in the Depression and War Years (1930–1945): 11 June 1939 and 3 March 1940. © Welch Foods Inc. Reproduced with permission.
For example, one advertisement for Welch’s (see Figure 2), which sponsored actress Irene Rich’s radio program, used her endorsement to sell grape juice as a weight loss product. Citrus growers had been actively involved in promoting fruit juice, particularly grapefruit juice, for weight loss a decade earlier (Fraser, 1998), a trend that continued. The Welch’s advertisement features actress Irene Rich in an evening gown and describes her as being 40 years old with the weight of a 16-year-old. The advertisement, through text and image, implies that youthfulness, elegance, and glamor can all be achieved by losing weight. It further establishes what is beautiful and what is ugly, and fat is definitely ugly as the headline notes, ‘Ugly Fat Lost’. The advertising copy then tries to persuade women by stating that fat can be taken off ‘easily’ and ‘pleasantly’ through ‘sensible diet’ without ‘strenuous exercises’ or ‘drugs’. Advising women to reduce ‘caloric intake’ by mixing grape juice and water to drink before meals and bedtime is particularly interesting as it fits with the conservation theme of the time. The advertisement primarily uses a hard sell to persuade consumers and claims that ‘Dr. Damru’ tested the method on his group of ‘intelligent and cooperative people’ who lost 7 pounds in a month. Although the advertisement primarily targets women with a dominant image of Irene Rich, it does mention the product’s benefits to men.
The Depression era and wartime messages go beyond personal improvement. Hard economic circumstances and wartime conditions created contexts that required advertising with a touch of finesse. A national company such as Welch’s could not advocate dieting when a large segment of the population was worried less about losing weight than going hungry. So it advocated mixing expensive grape juice with water, the advertisement’s deeper message is to mix health care with conservation of a valuable product. The expressed attack on ‘ugly fat’ is embedded in an appeal for frugality that can create personal and collective health.
Another example of an advertisement from this era is a testimonial by Peggy Frank, who is described as an artist for the American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) (see Figure 4). AWVS was the largest women’s support services organization during WWII, whose members provided various services at the home front during the war, such as ambulance driving, selling bonds, and working in kitchens. The advertisement uses before-and-after images and presents weight loss as heroic, which is also emphasized through Peggy Frank in her service uniform. Her before-and-after statistics are also presented along with a personal testimonial declaring: ‘Now I’m going to make up for the lost time and do all the things I didn’t have the energy to do, when I was a “Square Peggy”.’ The advertisement highlights the fact that Peggy’s case is ‘extreme’ and that she had to do more than average women would have had to do, that is, just attend the regular Du Barry’s Success School program. Weight loss is central to the school’s program but it also offers other benefits: it helps women correct their posture, improve their speaking voice, and learn how to dance. In essence, weight loss is promoted as a part of overall improvement. The message is even plainer in the advertisement that appeared late in 1943 when the war appeared to be increasingly winnable and better days with new possibilities were to come. ‘Square Peggy’ has decided to turn over a new leaf, remake herself, and embrace new possibilities. Peggy, and by implication all the Peggys, persuaded by the promise of transformation, will find a way to stand taller, sound sweeter, and even learn to dance. War was a long dark tunnel that was now opening to new possibilities that promised a break from regimentation and a life more free and open to brighter possibilities. However, the war was not over and the uniform itself endorses Square Peggy as an individual who had made the necessary sacrifices, but also a woman who could change to embrace new possibilities promised by peace.
31 October 1943. © USITC. Reproduced with permission.
Have fun (1946–1960): Lose weight through exercise equipment and ‘while vacationing’ at spas and resorts
The Postwar Boom years were a time when men returned home from the war and rejoined the work force. Many women, on the other hand, left their wartime jobs and returned to their traditional roles in the home. The economy had improved on a macro and micro level, and the households had more money to spend. However, as works such as Michael Harrington’s The Other America: Poverty in the United States (1998[1962]), made clear by the early 1960s, not all boats had been lifted. In fact, poverty was so real for such a large number of Americans that it prompted John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to pursue a ‘war on poverty’ during their administrations. Similarly, the notion of stay-at-home mothers as the norm was belied by the decade-by-decade increase of women in the workforce. The dream of achieving higher standards of living in the Postwar Boom era was not possible without two incomes in the household; thus, many women worked outside the home, more than at any other time in history (Douglas, 1995). Women, who were often employed in the service sector, faced the double burden of work and family. This burden was even greater for black and immigrant women who, because of discrimination, worked for low wages often as domestic and farm workers (Baxandall and Gordon, 1995). Yet persistent perceptions of the ideal mother and wife at the center of a hetero-normative family universe continued largely unchallenged in the popular imagination and weight loss advertising copy.
Advertisers during this time had started to use market segmentation based on gender and motivational research, which often focused on a single idea to sell products (unique selling proposition) (Sivulka, 2012). Weight loss advertisers capitalized on the improved financial conditions of middle-class white consumers to promote weight loss through the purchase of exercise equipment, and vacation and spa packages (see Figure 5). The messages of self-control and discipline from an earlier era were replaced with messages promoting consumption in order to maintain and enjoy ‘the good life’. Words such as ‘fun’, ‘relax’, ‘easy’, ‘no effort’, and ‘rest’ begin to show up in weight loss advertising of this time. So do the appeals of value and price to encourage consumption among not so affluent middle-class consumers.
Weight loss advertising in the Postwar Boom (1945–1960), 3 August 1958.
Weight loss advertisers particularly focused on the group that Sivulka (2012: 219) calls the ‘Mrs. Middle Majority’. The prime targets were white suburban women and teenage girls who were sold ‘Fat Girls’ Diet’. The weight loss advertisements, in keeping with other advertisements from that era (see Breines, 1992), promoted the conservative ideals of gender and gender roles. Women in weight loss advertising were portrayed as homemakers, wives and mothers even though nearly 34 percent of women were employed in the 1950s (Toossi, 2002). Nevertheless, the ideal life for a woman – also epitomized in myriad television comedies and dramas – was that of a full-time housewife, one who supported and comforted her husband while nurturing and guiding her children.
In weight loss advertising, one starts to notice a change in women’s images from suggestively glamorous to unambiguously sexy, a shift from puritanism to promiscuity. Women in weight loss advertisements were often seen in swimsuits showing off their bodies (see Figures 5 and 6) instead of formal gowns as in the previous era. In Figure 6, a woman stands in a swimsuit with her legs crossed, looking feminine in a sexually provocative pose. Her curvaceous, hourglass figure highlights her hips and breasts, both markers of reproductive femaleness (Bordo, 2003). The focus on hips in the visual is reinforced in the one word headline, ‘Hips’, and then promises to help women reduce the size of their hips ‘at home’ without diet or weight loss. The advertisements of this time often appear to target married women who have had children (see Figure 6). This can be seen in the testimonial within the ad that notes, ‘First time since I have had my 3 children my tummy is flat – E.S’. This discreet testimonial in which the woman is only identified by her initials suggests weight loss is an issue to be kept private. The negative connotations of weight loss are further reinforced by the use of the phrase ‘beautifying exercise’ in place of diet and weight loss.
12 August 1959.
Another advertisement presents a similar message and hopes to persuade women to lose weight by stating, ‘Husbands love it too … and how they do appreciate a prettier bride-type wife.’ The advertisement suggests women need to look good and young to make their men (almost always husbands) happy. The advertisement shows a woman standing with her hand on her forehead appearing displeased with herself, while the husband is sitting with a newspaper in his hands but clearly looking at her hips. In this glimpse, we see traditional gender roles displayed, and the simultaneous representation of both the ideals and problems of reproductive womanhood. The advertisement places women in the home with the added burden of now having to play the role of sexually desirable homemaker. Rooted in the patriarchal gaze, the advertisement perpetuates myths about the role of the woman in the home and society. This is particularly evident in the weight loss advertisements during this time, which tend to primarily portray attractive and would-be attractive women as homemakers, wives, and mothers despite the fact that nearly one-third of the women were employed outside the home, as noted previously.
The weight loss advertisements, like other advertisements of the postwar run-up to the 1960s, clearly reflect the conservative, restrictive ideals of gender and gender roles at the time of their creation. Yet, these advertisements were not simply mirroring an ideal version of the female body image, but were sowing seeds of doubt about feminine beauty by strongly associating beauty with thinness linked to matrimonial and maternal success. Being both nurturing and sexually attractive was exquisitely modern according to these advertisements.
Look younger (1961–1975): Lose weight in a ‘crazy lazy way’ with the help of novel gadgets
The period 1960 to 1975 was a time of monumental social and political changes in the United States, as in many parts of the world. Feminism, the civil rights movement and youth counter-culture had a dramatic impact on American society in what Madison Avenue referred to as the ‘Creative Revolution’ (Sivulka, 2012). Weight loss advertisements very much reflected the culture of this time and ideas associated with second-wave feminism, that is, a call for gender and social equality. In contrast to the advertisements of previous eras, one notices a greater number of weight loss advertisements targeting both men and women, who often appear together in the advertisements occupying equal space (see Figure 7). The presentation of the advertisements seems to visually acknowledge the need for equality among men and women. And advertisements that showed only women often showed them as confident, taking control of their sexuality and their bodies. Youthfulness was also an important appeal in weight loss advertisements, which is very much in line with the youth culture of that time. For example, one advertisement states, ‘exhilarating heights of vibrant youth’ and ‘In no time you will be on your way to having that slim, strong proud body of your teens.’ But even in this era when demands for gender and racial equality were made loud and clear, we see weight-loss advertisements in the New York Times still focusing on white women.
Weight loss advertising during the Creative Revolution era (1961–1975): 19 April 1969.
The era of the Creative Revolution is also the era of novel gadgets and machines promoting weight loss. These included weight belts, exercise bicycles, the Slim Wheel, Shape-o-matic and the Effortless Exerciser. Modernity seemed to have suddenly arrived with new gym equipment that could help sculpt the body, particularly the waist, with minimal effort. One also notices the conflation of the body as a machine, a machine for which people can improve our level of control and performance through the use of other gadgets. This early foray into notions of the bionic man and woman can be seen in ad headlines such as ‘Turn up your “Digestive Furnace”’, ‘Metabolic: Putting your food energy to work’, and ‘You can now command your body to melt away fat.’ In addition, weight loss was also promoted as ‘rapid’, ‘effortless’, and something that could be accomplished while relaxing, resting and even sleeping.
Self-improvement (1976–1990): Lose weight and improve yourself through diet plans
Between 1975–1990, the economic downturn of the early 70s (1972–1975) reversed and prosperity returned, bringing with it an increased demand for premium products and an upper-class lifestyle. In advertising history, this period is known as the Positioning and Image Building years. The advertisements of this time moved away from the hard sell and detailed description of products to more suggestive images (Sivulka, 2012). Weight loss advertising moved away from explaining how the product worked to how it improved consumers’ (mainly women’s) lives and empowered them as never before. Advertisers particularly focused on the themes of ‘good health’ and ‘longevity’; as well as themes of ‘pampering and personal attention’, ‘treating yourself’, by going to resorts, retreats and spas to ‘shape up’, all of which result in self-fulfillment through investing in oneself (see Figure 8). There are, of course, continuities with past promotions. Weight loss continues to be advertised as ‘permanent’, ‘painless’, ‘fast’, ‘convenient’, and ‘immediate’, resulting in ‘instant gratification’.
Weight loss advertising in the Image Building period (1975–1990): 1 February 1987. © Bonaventure Resort & Spa. Reproduced with permission.
The primary target of weight loss advertising continued to be white women and teenage girls. However, many of the advertisements also showed men and women exercising together. The advertisements often used testimonials from empowered ‘new’ women who appear confident, strong and independent. One also notices that men and women in the advertisements start to look a little more muscular than they did in weight loss advertisements of earlier decades; women are starting to occupy more space in the advertisements and also in society (see Figure 9).
9 August 1987. © Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. Reproduced with permission.
In the weight loss advertisements of this ‘self-improvement’ period, one also notices an emphasis on diet plans for weight loss which have replaced the novel exercise equipment of the previous decade. Various diet programs were introduced, some of which were popularized in the media and became fads. Among them were the Rotation Diet, Champagne Diet Eating Plan, Liquid Meal Plan, Effective Appetite Training, the Woman’s Advantage Diet, the I Love New York Diet, the Scarsdale Diet, the Beverly Hills Diet, the Airline Stewardess Diet, the Fit for Life Diet, the Eat to Win Diet, the Bloomingdales E.A.T. Healthy Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, the Water Diet, the Drinking Man’s Diet, the Slim Fast Diet, the Hollywood Pineapple Diet, and many more. Advertisers also advertised unrealistic weight loss, up to 10 pounds or more a week, or 20–25 pounds a month. This was significantly different from the Depression era advertisements, which in some cases promoted a more modest and probably more realistic weight loss of 7 pounds per month. In contrast to self-administered diet plans, one also starts to see more advertisements for health and fitness programs that were ‘medically supervised’ and advertisements for surgical solutions such as gastric reduction surgery in the latter half of 1980s, continuing into the 1990s.
Discussion
Examined in the context of the New York Times, and linked to current issues and historical events, we have seen that weight loss advertising closely reflects the cultural values of the decades studied, while simultaneously influencing attitudes though the creation of new cultural images and the buy and sell of the products promoted. Despite the fact that the focus and themes from each era differ slightly, they all function to reproduce an ideology of thinness. Across the four eras identified, we see portrayals of women in weight loss advertising evolve from glamorous and thin, to curvaceous, feminine and sexually appealing, to youthful, bold and confident and finally to strong and muscular. Collectively, the advertisements cultivate the belief that, by controlling their bodies through diet and exercise, women can achieve success in all aspects of their lives, from relationships to careers. Grady (2007) rightly notes that advertising acts as a social indicator reflecting the times and changes in society and we have seen how in the advertisements examined there are many parallels to the changing roles for woman in society. However, it is also clear that weight loss advertisers have exploited the dreams and desires, as well as the insecurities of women often associated with patriarchal expectations. This has resulted in larger profits for weight loss companies and their investors (Marketdata, 2013) but it has also contributed to greater dissatisfaction with body image and the constant monitoring of body weight among women.
It is important to discuss who is represented in the weight loss advertisements, why and to what effect. In the advertisements examined from the New York Times, white middle- and upper-class women were over represented, while other racial groups and ethnic minorities were ignored. Sivulka (2012) explains that in mainstream advertising, which is driven by socio-economic and neoliberal ideologies, one sees greater representations of white women over other groups because white women make most of the purchasing decisions and thus are a valued group for the advertisers. In terms of race, historically advertisers had ignored or underrepresented minority groups such as African-Americans, Latino/Hispanic and Native Americans (O’ Barr, 1994) as they were not perceived as a profitable market segment. If they were represented at all, they were often shown in subservient positions or as caricatures (Grady, 2007; O’ Barr, 1994). In weight loss advertising, one sees a ‘symbolic annihilation’ (Tuchman, 1978: 8) of people of color and people of other races. This, whether intentional or unintentional, acts to promote white bodies as desirable, beautiful, ideal, successful, and more controllable (Boero, 2007; Saguy and Gruys, 2010). The findings of this study are in keeping with the assertion by Warsh (2011: vii) that the visual representation of ideal female and male bodies in the media reflects ‘dominant socio-economic and geopolitical ideologies: They [are] overwhelmingly white, young, slim, prosperous, and free of disabilities.’ Warsh (2011: p. vii) notes: The healthy man is strong, assertive, tolerant, moderate in his appetites, hard-working, adventurous, responsible and wise. The healthy woman is attractive, youthful-looking, self-sacrificing, empathetic, consciously limiting her appetites, hard working, careful, mindful of the needs of her loved ones and other in the social orbit, and constantly seeking the wise advice of others to improve the appearance and health of herself and her family.
Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate that weight loss advertisers in the New York Times were very successful in playing their dual role of reflecting and shaping values about woman’s health and ideal body image. This success has played a role in America’s weight obsession and in cultivating the belief that bodies are malleable and can be controlled in whatever way we desire. The commercialization of thinness has contributed significantly to the chimera of weight loss which is easily achieved, conveniently and rapidly, through the consumption of products. The advertisements not only over promised the benefits of their product, but some were found to be deceptive and harmful. For example, the courts found that Relaxacizor (the product in Figure 6), which was sold as a girth reducer and exerciser, was ‘dangerous to health when used with the frequency and duration prescribed, recommended, and suggested in its labeling’ (Leagle, nd).
The findings of this study demonstrate a number of ways the weight loss industry in the United States has contributed to women’s, particularly white women’s, obsession and dissatisfaction with their body image and weight. Advertisers were successful in tying the management of body and weight to women’s need for emancipation in order to increase profits. Weight loss advertising, like other media texts, conveys multiple ideologies and a partial version of social reality (Larsen, 1991). By focusing on individuals and framing weight loss as an individual problem, the advertisements ignore the complexity of weight gain and its various causes. For example, biological, genetic or environment causes of obesity require interventions that are more complex and cannot be resolved simply through diet and weight-loss products.
Limitations and future study
Based on advertisements in the New York Times over a period of 60 years, this study provides an historical overview of changes in the discourse of weight loss through an examination of products, persuasion techniques and messages in weight loss advertising. The study adds to the media representation, women’s representation and fat literature by specifically examining the contents of weight loss advertising over the decades and noting the changes and continuity in messages.
This study has its limitations. For example, I do not engage in analyzing different meaning making by audiences for the advertisements as they interact with the texts. I also restrict my analysis to a limited number of advertisements from one medium. Future studies could examine current discourse in weight loss advertising across multiple media platforms. Links to related issues such as eating disorders could also be explored. Rates of eating disorders have been steadily increasing since 1950 (Hudson et al., 2007; Streigel-Moore and Franko, 2003; Wade et al., 2011), and the incidence of bulimia in 10–39-year-old women is said to have tripled between 1988 and 1993 (Hoek and Van Hoeken, 2003). Finally, studies could also examine audience reception to weight loss advertising. For example, how do white women understand and internalize messages regarding their own weight and bodies in relation to the bodies of women from other racial groups and ethnic minorities who are underrepresented in weight loss advertising. Similarly, how do minority groups think and feel about their own bodies in relation to images of white bodies that surround them.
Footnotes
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Biographical Note
SUMAN MISHRA is an Associate Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Illinois. Her research interests are in the areas of gender, advertising, health and international communication.
Address: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Campus Box 1775, Edwardsville, IL Illinois 62026, USA. [email: