Not just Chalene Johnson
 

In the Chalene Johnson thread someone said it seems like she’s always trying to sell something, but I’m getting that feeling from a lot of instructors. I got a Gina B. e-mail today saying there was only one more day to get in on her $397.00/3 months weight loss program - no thanks. And Kathy Smith’s e-mails are always about some kind of energy drink or something. And Denise Austin was selling some “energy bites”. I just wish they still made DVDs and didn’t bother with this other stuff.

i think there's a lifecycle for famous people, including fitness instructors. They need to constantly think of ways to earn a living. There's nothing wrong with that. From their standpoint, there's only so many videos you can film before they become derivatives of earlier footage. at this point, they might have simply moved on from filming workout videos to doing something else.

i'd like to see them tackling issues that are related to an aging population. we see the occasional magazine interview about aging healthfully, but we need to see more. there's so much more they could do.

They don’t constantly have to be thinking of ways to earn a living - most of them could be collecting Social Security now. 😆😆😆

Yes, they are, but of course they are.

Pretty much everyone out there who is offering content in any area is selling something, even if it’s just themselves and their own ideas.

I am mildly curious about how much some of them actually make. I’d guess it is significantly more than the average personal trainer out there who doesn’t market themselves on social media, or they wouldn’t do it.

I agree, though with that might come ads and endorsements for various supplements and anti-aging products. :p

I remember getting an email from Body groove selling smoothie stuff...

That one sort of surprised me.

I actually teach media literacy and one of the things I tell my students is we must be critical of all media, because it's basically advertising, even when we think it's not. It's fine if you want to be advertised to--I sometimes really love finding something cool via an ad--but you have to be realistic about its claims and gentle with yourself if your results vary.

With fitness media personalities, yes, most of what they do is trying to sell us something, even if it's just so that we buy their DVDs, sign up for their classes, subscribe to their YT or TikTok or IG or whatever (because they do get money there, too, through advertising/views and spon con and stuff), and that at the end of the day we're all trying to make a living. It doesn't mean all of the things they're hawking are "bad" or don't work, and with people who are used to earning most of their money via hard copies of VHS or DVDs and people aren't buying those as much, it can be really tough to figure out what the marketplace even looks like anymore.

Personally, this is why I really like Jessica Smith more and more; she's got a very, very solid YT channel but also still releases physical DVDs, and I don't see her selling anything we might call snake oil. Her workouts are also gentle, scalable, and accessible. I think she's really figured out what works for her for now.

It doesn't bother me that they are always selling something - I mean, that IS how they make their living. I get a hell of a lot of content for free, so I try to remember that when I'm getting sales pitches.

I do wish that it didn't erode my trust though. I mean, really it shouldn't, but there's that nagging "Well...they're just trying to sell you something" feeling that I can't quite shake.

I have ZERO problem paying for information, content, etc that is legitimate and trustworthy. I just hate having to worry about snake oil sales pitches.

I listen to several podcasts that I really want to trust, and I feel pretty confident about the hosts and their knowledge - but as their sponsors grow, there's more an more advice they are giving and product recommendations they are giving that I just don't know if it's what they REALLY support or not.

Podcast ads are really grating, mostly because they do sound casual and "genuine," and they're read by the host(s) and they say stuff that makes it sound like they really do use the products. I think in many cases, part of the promotion deal is that they do get product samples and stuff and may like the products just fine, but the ad copy seems super over the top. For that reason, if I'm listening to a podcast at a time and place where I can fast forward through the ads, I try to do so.

In the very early days of television, sponsors produced the shows and had the stars of the show do the commercial segments, producing a similar effect. As part of the quiz show scandals of the 1950s, this practice was mostly done away with because it demonstrated a conflict of interest. I guess podcasting remains such a new medium, largely unregulated, that lets this kind of thing continue. At least on some social media platforms, you now have to tag certain posts and partnerships as "#ad" or "#sponcon" so at least the audience knows that this is not as authentic of a post as the influencer's regular feed.

I agree... always more suspicious when they flow right into the ad and I can't tell what I am hearing or watching is the ad or the broadcast.
There's a pet YouTuber that's so glossy like that I quit watching