Sweet Sexy Science

[Kris T.]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I had a revelation today. I was running on the treadmill at the club, flipping through People. The magazine had a big 1-page ad for Atkins, with the whole "SWEET SEXY SCIENCE" thing.

Just then, I looked up at the TV and they were talking about the whole "Low carb is the winner!!" story that broke a few days ago (or was it yesterday.) That got me wondering.

Do you think the Atkins company somehow knew that this report was going to come out and timed their new advertising blitz on purpose? I even went to their new website with the blinged-out Atkins logo and they already have a link to the breaking news.

You've got to wonder...

[Prozak]

I said the same thing the other night.

new products, leaner menu.

you know millions of people have visited their website in the last 48 hours that never did before.

le sigh

[MarblesLongGone]

Oy! Studies take time to make it to press, they have the results far in advance, ESPECIALLY, if as people said, they bankrolled the study!

[ebonyeyz28]

This is the first I've heard of the new campaign but, knowing the power of marketing and money, somebody may have had the inside track and gotten the story, ads and everything to show up and the same time.

[Prozak]

ANA now has the entire article posted on their front page.

Yeah, something VERY fishy going on.

have you seen the front portal page yet? Splashed with chocolate too!

I really want to get mad now, it appears to be making some sense now. We can only hope that some people will trickle around the web and do MORE research on the Atkins plan and not just park themselves at ANA

[JerseyGyrl]

Atkins Nutritionals funded the study

[Prozak]

Originally Posted by JerseyGyrl

Atkins Nutritionals funded the study

Yeah, that too :rollseyes:

sweet and sexy, what 2 better words to choose to appeal to the overweight?

[OurLuvsFromAbove]

well I just wanted to say I didn't just notice these ads, they have been around for a few months now?

[Prozak]

I have heard people talking about the ads and the new bars/shakes in the last few months.

AND their new LEANER menus that promote vegetable fats and lean meats (and bars and shakes).

Sounds like they took the plan right off of the study, and then added those bar$ and $hakes, dipped it all in chocolate and rolled it in sex to appeal to the masses.

[OurLuvsFromAbove]

I dunno I personally dont go for diets that offer me food for a diet.. I go for them because they teach me how to eat, (ie a diet from a book)
cause god knows im not buying someones food for the rest of my life to stay a certain way? its silly to me.. what if the business goes down the tubes? lol

[Prozak]

I spent around $2K in 4 months of Jenny Craig (300/month for food plus more for the 'extra groceries' and I got sucked into the tapes that cost around $400 that I never listened to, plus the sign up fees etc. etc.)

I lost a whopping 17lbs! Then I moved and could not afford the shipping so I gained it all back in less than 2 months.

Plus I was hungry all the time, but those 'fat free' strawberry twizzlers were good for a snack.

[CreekWatcher]

Originally Posted by MarblesLongGone

Oy! Studies take time to make it to press, they have the results far in advance, ESPECIALLY, if as people said, they bankrolled the study!

To the best of my knowledge, it was not Atkins Nutritionals (to hell with them--no offense intended) but rather the Veronica Atkins Foundation (not affliliated, fortunately, with Atkins Nutritionals, which she sold to get the money to found her foundation) which supplied part of the money for the study. Moreover if you look at the protocols of the study--for instance, the reccomendation to the low carb section participants that they get most of their protein from vegetable (?!!!) sources--it certainly would not appear that the Foundation had any control over the study's procedures.

[MarblesLongGone]

Originally Posted by Prozak

I spent around $2K in 4 months of Jenny Craig (300/month for food plus more for the 'extra groceries' and I got sucked into the tapes that cost around $400 that I never listened to, plus the sign up fees etc. etc.)

I lost a whopping 17lbs! Then I moved and could not afford the shipping so I gained it all back in less than 2 months.

Plus I was hungry all the time, but those 'fat free' strawberry twizzlers were good for a snack.

Oh, I did a tech support call in a JC and was SICKENED by the behavior of the employees! They were barbaric. I wondered what the prices were, but I figured if I was going to go low fat and live on TV dinners, I could pick out my own Lean Cuisines at the grocery for less!

[niciK]

WTH! Whats with the lean meats ? I just got over the low fat brainwashingand now this? What is happening to Atkins? Strange they are pushing the products again after the last low carb craze, I thought low carb wasnt trendy anymore. hmmm

[iakaren]

Originally Posted by niciK

WTH! Whats with the lean meats ? I just got over the low fat brainwashingand now this? What is happening to Atkins? Strange they are pushing the products again after the last low carb craze, I thought low carb wasnt trendy anymore. hmmm

Everything recycles.......look at the current boys haircuts, right out of 1970's year books. Clothes that look like they came out of my back closet (Oop, I am dating myself) Most "new ideas" are just recycled old ones, with new names. Just like fashions.

History repeats itself, in many, many ways.

Sorry, one of my soapbox issues, I guess.

[junkfoodmonkey]

I just hopped over to the ANA site. Oh dear god, just change the names and it might as well be Slimfast! I notice that "Products" come first everywhere on the navigation menus. Not Program or Recipes. Yeah, their priorities are pretty clear there. I feel sick.

[zelia]

Originally Posted by JerseyGyrl

Atkins Nutritionals funded the study

No, the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation was the main funder, and the only funder I've seen mentioned, for $497,000.

[Prozak]

They could have thrown in a couple copies of Dr A's books and still been under $1/2 million.

I just find it odd that V.Atkins did not sit down and tell them how Atkins should have been done... or ask to keep their name out of it IYKWIM.

It just makes everything muddy and confusing

[Houston Heather]

How sad... it's going to make it almost impossible to explain my WOE. Atkins, but not the new one, the older one where I could eat fat. Ay yi yi.

[CreekWatcher]

Originally Posted by Prozak

They could have thrown in a couple copies of Dr A's books and still been under $1/2 million.

I just find it odd that V.Atkins did not sit down and tell them how Atkins should have been done... or ask to keep their name out of it IYKWIM.

It just makes everything muddy and confusing

Maybe she did discuss it with them, who knows...but if she ordered them to do this or that, it would have comprormised the appearence of the researcher's independence, more than neccesary. And it would have been lake of full disclosure to keep the foundation's name out of it.

[zelia]

I read some place (sorry, I forgot where already) that the researchers approached the Atkins Foundation for assistance, not the other way around.

[LowCarbSleepyToast]

So is atkins now a low fat plan? Seems that way, since on the website it keeps saying 'lean proteins'

Crazy.