The program that once used to be known for its prepackaged weight loss foods is now becoming known for something entirely different: celebrity endorsements. Yes, I’m talking about the Jenny Craig program.
We’ve all seen the television campaigns featuring Kirstie Alley, the former Cheers actress who has supposedly lost more than 75 pounds since beginning with Jenny Craig. Now, the company has brought on another powerhouse to help sell its message.
Valerie Bertinelli is the actress from such shows as One Day at a Time and Touched by an Angel. But today, she might better be known as the spokesperson for Jenny Craig. She claims to have lost some 30 pounds since beginning with the program and currently writes about it all on her own blog on the company’s website. “I’ve agreed to make my journey public because, despite my life in front of the camera, I am a person just like you,” she says. “No private chefs, no personal trainers on staff…I’m just a busy mom who needs to make some big changes.”
But just how credible are these celebrity endorsements and how much are they helping promote the Jenny Craig program in the eyes of its target market? The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into this very question. According to Brandweek, “The FTC, which some say has gotten more combative of late, is considering tightening the rules, which could affect everything from celebs’ claims about brands on talk shows to fact-checking assertions of weight loss in ads.”
More recently, Queen Latifah was brought on board as another company spokesperson, no doubt in an effort to reach out to an entirely new market. The 37 year old Oscar-nominated star is the latest recruit. “We are thrilled to have Queen Latifah support our mission of improving health by taking her first step toward achieving a more healthful lifestyle,” said a company spokesperson. “Queen Latifah joins forces with Jenny Craig to communicate the importance of how small lifestyle changes, in the areas of diet and exercise, can have positive effects on overall health.”
The effect of such blatant marketing is still to be determined, but what is known now is just how hard the company is working to promote itself in the eyes of a new audience, and audience that looks up to and trusts the advice of celebrities. Queen Latifah, specifically, demonstrates a signal in the shift of the company’s strategy – one from marketing itself as a weight loss company (where Kirstie Alley struggled to fit into a specific dress size), to a healthy living company, one that emphasizes healthy eating, exercise and getting fit over weight loss per se.
The Jenny Craig program is no stranger to the world of celebrity endorsements. It had already signed deals in the past with Cindy Williams and Monica Lewinsky. But the message behind the celebrities is clear: the battle of the bulge can hit anyone no matter what they do, where they live, or how much they make. And, as a universal problem, theirs promotes a universal solution.
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