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Celebrities like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian should be more aware of their moral responsibility. Instagram should ban advertisements for diet products featuring famous people.
Fitness myths
It’s unbelievable how much nonsense is sold in the fitness industry. We often write about supplements ‘with a smell’. Products whose effectiveness can be disputed but bring in a lot of money daily for clever commercial minds. People who make good money from the despair of those who just can’t seem to achieve their goals. In some cases, because the goal itself is not realistic, for example, thanks to role models with a body that is achievable for only a few. In other cases, the goal is realistic, but the offered solution is not: Supplements and food that will lead to ‘revolutionary results’.
As mentioned, we try to expose such practices regularly. This is not always appreciated. Like when we were threatened with lawsuits because we labeled a product as a rip-off. Not so much because the active ingredient wouldn’t do anything, but because it was sold in a new package for a price that was tens of times higher than usual.
It’s also not always appreciated when we mention the role of famous individuals. I haven’t kept it a secret that I can get quite annoyed with, for example, celebrities who write books about nutrition without being hindered by any expertise. Or rather, by the people who buy these books instead of books by real experts.
Cleaning up the mess made by famous people
The British National Health Services (NHS) is also not a fan of celebrities promoting diet products or other dubious health products. Their most senior doctor warns that the NHS cannot continue to clean up the mess caused by famous people [1].
Earlier this month, Prof Stephen Powis also addressed Instagram and Facebook to ban such practices. He stated that the platforms exploit the insecurities of young people and create extra work for mental health care. In The Telegraph, he explicitly requested them to ban the promotion of any kind of posts that could cause physical or mental harm.
That is, of course, quite broad, but he becomes more specific when he then talks about the role of celebrities and their influence on young people. They should be aware of a ‘moral obligation’ and reject such sponsorship deals.
Rumbling role models
He cites as an example the promotion of products like diet pills, detox teas, laxatives, and appetite-suppressing sweets. Products that would take advantage of the insecurities of particularly young people who want to look like their idol.
He points to research showing that at least a quarter of young people say appearance is the most important thing. Half of girls would feel pressure to be thinner and a third of boys to be more muscular. In this target group, waste products and dietary supplements can fuel body image anxiety and the desire for cosmetic treatments.
Where celebrities and the platforms which promote them exploit this vulnerability by pushing products like laxative teas, diet pills and other get-thin-quick solutions, they are taking the health of our young people in their hands and should act with far greater responsibility
In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has announced that they will crack down harder on celebrities who do not clearly state that a post is paid advertising. However, there is less regulation on which products they can promote.
Professor Powis also almost literally says what I have often stated here: If a product promises sensational results, you are probably going to be disappointed. And if it does offer those sensational results, you may wonder if there are no harmful substances in it. Think of the amphetamine-like substances in certain banned fat burners.
Laxative Kardashian
Kim and Courtney Kardashian came under fire when they both advertised for the same company. Meal replacements, detox teas, and appetite-suppressing lollipops containing substances that have a laxative effect.
British actress Jameela Jamil (from the series ‘The Good Place’) was not pleased and made that clear. Of course, the Kardashian lollipops and shakes didn’t sit well with Jamil. The actress is behind the Instagram account I Weigh, which focuses on body positivity. I had never heard of Jamil myself, so I had to check her background and Insta. In a recent post, she proudly shows off the $10 earrings she wore to the Grammys. ‘My kind of girl’, so a bigger contrast with Kim and Courtney K. seems hardly possible.
Following the uproar caused by Jamil, Urban Outfitters stopped advertising the brand promoted by the Kardashians.
What about the Insta fit boys and girls with their protein ads?
Yes, it may be mean to point out famous people as the source of all evil. For every famous person trying to sell some supplement, there are hundreds of non-f
amous people trying to do the same.
Fit boys and girls, for example, who try to earn a little from their passion to justify the many hours in the gym. And of course, to recoup some of the costs of supplements.
But they usually don’t have millions of followers who follow them like docile cattle. Moreover, they will often have a target audience that already has (some) more knowledge and is already deeper into the fitness scene. So you are less likely to risk promoting some nonsense diet pill. After all, who will take you seriously as a ‘fitness expert’? Nevertheless, there are plenty of rotten apples in the fitness industry, the ‘shake fakers’ as I call them.
I think there is a difference between promoting proteins and creatine for muscle growth than laxative and appetite-suppressing substances for weight loss. Both can give you an obsession with a certain figure. If you’re already obsessive, then better as a fitness freak than as a laxative, non-eating Kardashian wannabe.
Sources
- telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/01/instagram-should-ban-celebrities-endorsing-harmful-diet-products/
