When you think of Weight Watchers, you think of women. And we can't blame you for that mindset: Weight Watchers has marketed itself as being for women. Now, Weight Watchers wants you to also think of men losing weight.
In its new ad for Weight Watchers Online for Men, you have a man in great shape. No beer gut to be found. He's non-threatening with a higher forehead. And he's telling you how he lost 57 pounds by watching what he eats, using the traditional point system associated with women who use Weight Watchers.
There is a male twist: the foods are in an online cooler, and you put or pull them in as you need to in order to see what you are consuming.
In the ad, a bottle of beer is 3 points and a bag of chips is 4 points. Life is a picnic, at least on TV.
Another ad (see above) shows us a grill cheat sheet where you drag food online on the grill to see the point value. A guy learns the point difference between light and dark beer.
Male imagery of working out dominates one spot. Grills and beers highlight another spot.
The idea of "do it all online" also falls into the "I don't want to do meetings" mantra associated with women, in and out of Weight Watchers. Do it in secret, don't tell your buddies, and see what happens. Very smart.
Whether men will be as good at counting points — this is the key breakthrough. Maybe if the numbers were adapted to sports.
It would be fun to criticize the ads for being too narrow about what men eat. But in all honesty, this is pretty reflective of the male audience who probably needs help.
Of course, Weight Watchers isn't the only mainstream weight loss center to appeal to men. Jenny Craig uses Jason Alexander, who may have lost weight. But the Weight Watchers guys are in much better shape.
Guys need less help because they have advantages over women, but need more specialized help because society isn't geared for men to get help, especially about weight loss. Duplicating what works for women won't cut it.
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