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Fitness and the media : infomercials

Scott Andrew Birdby Scott Andrew Bird | August 27, 2007
Filed in training and the media

Abs Made EasyThis is the fourth part [see parts 1, 2 and 3] of this month's collaboration with Run to Win's Blaine Moore on fitness and the media; taking a peek at the dark side of fitness - the world of the infomercial.

Ever woken up in front of the TV muttering 'what time is it?' and taken a look at what was showing? If it was late enough, chances are that it was an obscenely long ad for one weird-looking fitness contraption or other. Welcome to the land of fitness infomercials.

If - against the odds - you've never seen one, this will give you an idea of what you've been missing :


There. May you be fortunate enough to never see it again.

Why are they there?

Incredibly, some of the devices actually do work. I still stand behind the Total Gym (at least the simpler models), promoted by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley. It's a brilliant setup.

Most of them, however, are no more effective (and much less so in many cases) than the exercises and equipment everyone is already familiar with. Everything from push-ups to barbell squats.

It's big business

As you might have guessed, there's an awful lot of money connected with these commercials. To give you an idea of just how much, here are a few stats :

  • The infomercial industry has generated over $100,000,000,000 dollars in revenue since the 1980s (1). By 2004 it was turning over an astonishing $256 billion per year (2).
  • Infomercials generally have to hit a 2-to-1 sales-to-cost ratio to survive (2). As a typical fitness infomercial costs around $500,000 to produce (and many times this to market), enormous sales are needed to make the effort worthwhile.
  • The infomercial industry is growing at the alarming rate of 10 percent per year (2).

What I'd like to see

I certainly don't have anything against promoting fitness. However, I draw the line in cases where money is put first.

A few changes I would make :

  • greatly increased fitness education in schools, which would have many benefits (including reduced gullibility when it came to outrageous fitness advice)
  • get rid of 'easy payment plans' for lower-priced items (say under $100)
  • ensure that advertisers can support any medical claims made in the commercial

The world of the infomercial is here to stay. What would you change in order to make it great for everyone?

References

  1. Mike Koenigs
  2. Miracle Infomercials
    Washington Post
    Sep 26 2004