"It's cheaper than going out and getting my own food or meal planning."
This ad goes into saving money by not throwing away food or being cheaper than eating out. These ads never say the word "cooking" because they know their plans aren't as cheap as cooking.
"Getting my own food" usually refers to going to the grocery store. You could rummage through Dumpsters, trespass on farms to pick vegetables, or get food to bring back to your domicile. "Cheaper than … meal planning." Does meal planning cost anything?
The ad pushes the idea of saving money. Patrick is a financial advisor and he knows he is saving money, though part of why he is saving money is that he is compensated for the ad. Someone is literally throwing away food. Implication is that one would never throw off the Nutrisystem food.
"Less expensive than going out to eat." Yes. A false comparison. Yes.
Arguing that this program is easier, less stressful, and fewer temptations: all solid arguments. Cheaper? Not so much.
Any diet program that is more about producing food than diet techniques wants you to think their food is a bargain. This ad is more overt than most.
The Federal Trade Commission (do we even still have a FTC?) would get involved if there was an obvious deception. Hopefully. We are not saying there is anything technically untruthful in the ad, if Nutrisystem's lawyers are reading this story. The ad is generally deceptive in nature but American standards for advertising allow a lot.
There is nothing magical in any food from any diet company. The diet culture is almost 50 years old. People generally did pretty well with regular food.
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Cooking allows you to use vegetables in multiple dishes. Celery is a lot cheaper when some of it goes into a soup, sauce, a snack, and other dishes. You could make a stew or chili that will last several days. You could make a tomato sauce and use it for different dishes.
Buying spices in bulk gives you flavor over a lot of dishes. A single tub of full-fat Greek yogurt gives you versatility and keeps you full.
Weight control is a lifetime issue for a lot of people. Buying someone else's food might work for awhile. Unless you plan to buy that food for 30 years, you should learn cooking to be more flexible and learn more about food than getting a delivery of meals for the next 4 weeks (read the fine print).
video and photo credit: Nutrisystem
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