"Success story" fibs and fluffs

[turbojunkie]

Originally Posted by gmfreund

I remember reading about a woman who was pushing some weight loss scheme -- her after picture turned out to be a picture of a Russian model that she had stolen off of someone's website. Her after pictures would change over the years - but they wouldn't be the same person.

Are you talking about the chick behind the Kimkins scam? I remember reading about that, too.

[gmfreund]

Originally Posted by turbojunkie

Are you talking about the chick behind the Kimkins scam? I remember reading about that, too.

That's the name! She was quite the scam artist!

[eam531]

Originally Posted by gmfreund

In one of Joyce Vedral's books, she takes before and after pictures of herself -- in the "before" shot she's in a terrible suit, slumping, facing the camera square on, etc. In the "after" she's posing and at an angle. The difference is phenomenal (and taught me to ALWAYS pose for pictures!)

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was also thinking of those photos from Joyce's book. The way she is standing in photo 2 makes all the difference.

I remembering reading/seeing someplace that people in the "before" photos in fitness testimonials are almost invariably very athletic people who have let themselves go a bit and who are photographed at very unflattering angles, etc. The idea being that people who were once really fit can get that way faster than people who have never been fit (muscle memory, experience with tough workouts, etc.) I don't know if that is true or not, but it makes sense to me.

[Helen S]

Originally Posted by eam531

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was also thinking of those photos from Joyce's book. The way she is standing in photo 2 makes all the difference.

I remembering reading/seeing someplace that people in the "before" photos in fitness testimonials are almost invariably very athletic people who have let themselves go a bit and who are photographed at very unflattering angles, etc. The idea being that people who were once really fit can get that way faster than people who have never been fit (muscle memory, experience with tough workouts, etc.) I don't know if that is true or not, but it makes sense to me.

That's true for the Hydroxy (I think that's the name) ads. They take fitness competitors who were pregnant and trying to get back in shape afterwards. What's really insulting is when they use before pics where you can clearly see that they were pregnant. I think they use fitness competitors since they are used to eating clean and working out hard so they can get back in shape quickly.

[neatski]

Originally Posted by turbojunkie

Are you talking about the chick behind the Kimkins scam? I remember reading about that, too.

If anyone feels like reading about this story:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/pop...imkinsdiet.htm

[ddj]

Originally Posted by gigi

The marketing sucks though. I'm sure there are plenty of real before and after photo's stories they could use to make the "success" stories legit...boo.

Oh, but they probably look like the rest of us mere mortals. Better, but not the kind of wow! they're hoping will sell the product. No-one wants to look better but normal. They want to look better than everyone else.

[videofit]

Originally Posted by Buzzer

On a similar but different thought, I have a friend who in the '80's her Aunt was on an Oil of Olay commercial. It was one of those "I'm 42, but people think I'm 29" commercials... only she wasn't 42, she really WAS 29.

You should see if that commercial is posted on youtube and then put the link here. I wonder how many of us would remember it. It doesn't ring a bell with me.

[Jane1721]

Originally Posted by Kyra

I'm a devotee of the "everything works, but nothing works forever" principle.

ITA! A former professional athlete who now speaks about health and wellness says that what works for weight loss and body transformation is "whatever you're not doing now." Meaning, the body adapts very well and you have to mix things up. For me, this is true for both diet and exercise.

Regarding before and after photos - a woman whose pictures were posted on The Firm's website was really hurt when she saw that her after picture was airbrushed. She didn't know they were going to do that, and didn't like the implication that her after picture wasn't good enough as it was.

[Eibhinn]

Two examples of the before and after techniques. The first link has a video where a photographer admits to having taken before and after shots of people on the same day.


http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/...after-pictures

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/silverman2.htm

[mamaste]

Originally Posted by Sophia

He said that according to her, when they do magazine shoots and list the makeup used, they just make up the model with whatever they have/use and then pick the closest colors to list of whatever brand they're pushing.

Cosmetic companies buy the credits. The companies pay to have their products listed instead of what the makeup artist really used.

There's a former Firm success story who is also a Beach Body coach. She uses her Firm before and after pictures to sell BB products. The after photo she uses was taken by The Firm for the infomercial. Now that is decpetive marketing.

I'm always happy for men and women who make a change then reach their goal. I used to pay attention to the product they use, now I know better. I realize they got that way through a healthy d**t and exercise. The program they help sell helped them be consistent. Nothing miraculous about that.