I don’t care what anyone says about Oprah’s latest venture as Weight Watchers spokesperson because I love it. I love how she’s jazzed that she gets to eat bread, I love how she drops diet tips like they’re amazing tidbits of wisdom and I love how open and she is about an issue so many of us face. As I’ve mentioned, Weight Watchers worked for me and I think it’s a good program but I don’t find it as effective as just counting calories. Still, if Oprah is going to put her celebrity behind any for-profit diet program, I like that it’s WW.
Earlier this week Oprah thrilled everyone at a Weight Watchers meeting in New York City by showing up unexpectedly with her best friend, Gail. She posted this video, it was broadcast live on Facebook, and you can tell ahead of time how excited she is about it. Oprah explained that it was the first meeting she’s been to and that she’s going to the meeting her own WW coach runs. When Oprah came into the meeting everyone was screaming and she got a sticker/award for attending her first meeting. Here’s the video:
That was incredible, I really enjoyed that. I’m not a joiner so I didn’t go to many meetings and mostly did Weight Watchers online, but I did attend a handful with my mom and now I feel like it’s a secret society, like AA or The Masons or something. I’ll see people from WW out and I wonder if I should say hi or just ignore them out of politeness. I usually say hi anyway and try to see if they’ve lost weight but then feel guilty about it. Now all these ladies are on video with Oprah that’s been viewed over a million times. It’s not like they can ask her to blur their faces out, it’s Oprah! She came into the place and announced that she was broadcasting live on Facebook. I wonder if any of them are self conscious about it, I would be.
The thing I don’t like about this campaign is that Oprah has gained the trust of a lot of people over the years, and they look to her for advice. Yet she doesn’t disclose in the ads that she has a financial interest in WW. She acts like it just this great weight loss tool that she discovered. I think that’s dishonest and I’ve lost a lot of respect for her integrity.
+1
I admire Oprah greatly. I just don’t like that she is promoting old school WW which has been around forever. There’s nothing new here people. I also find it odd how anyone would take weight loss advise from someone who has lost and gained weight as often as she has. She is the poster child of unsuccessful dieting.
See, I think she’s a terrific spokesperson for a weight loss product because despite all of the resources she has at her disposal, she still struggles with it. She knows first-hand how challenging it is, how internal and mental is it, and probably has a wealth of information and advice to give women in similar situations who have yo-yo dieted like she has.
Someone like, say, Jillian Michaels, who’s weight/body/fitness experience is a world away from most women, is probably much harder to relate to than Oprah.
And that is why I like that she is promoting weight watchers. I’ve lost and gained a dozen times too and I hope I never quit trying. I like that she hasn’t quit trying either.
Thank you! I don’t understand the followers of Oprah and her diets. She’s never fully vested in them as she stops them almost as soon as starting them, gets people all jazzed up about being on the same diet, who look to her for inspiration (as she commands) and then she disappears and goes on back to her sedentary, over-eating lifestyle. That’s not a role model for a weight loss club.
My point is that she owns part of the company, and she doesn’t disclose that in the ads. I find that dishonest.
I think that would be different if this was a brand new product/company. But WW has been around for a while and PLENTY of people have gotten results from it. So, I don’t think there’s a need to build faith in the product itself. Yes, she has an interest in promoting the brand, but it’s not as though Oprah is stopping at promotion. She’s also doing the program. I think it would distrustful of her to do empty promotion. Also, the news of her buying shares was WIDELY reported. I guess it’s more odd for me if someone were to see a celebrity promoting a company and assume they aren’t getting some kind of kickback.
They did recently change up their program pretty drastically. I’m not a paying member, but I used to be, and I still spend a lot of time on their message boards/online community because it’s filled with some awesome people, so I’ve had the opportunity to read a lot about it.
Anyway, their most recent revamp has been met with lots of criticism from existing members. Very difficult to stay within the allotted daily points, and very difficult to eat anything carby/sugary/high in fat without completely destroying your day’s points and putting you in the red. So the whole premise of being able to eat anything you want within moderation is BS.
Also, the website has a terrible user experience, as does the app, and they’re both constantly undergoing maintenance or causing problems for members. It’s becoming more and more difficult to understand why anyone would pay for this subpar program with so many free ones available, like My Fitness Pal or Lose It. The one redeeming factor seems to be the meetings. Nothing breeds accountability quite like being weighed weekly in public.
To summarize: I don’t foresee much success for Weight Watchers without significant changes.
Celebitchy, I’m having trouble playing video. Is issue just on my end?
I can’t either
I can’t either too.
I can’t either
It works for me I’m going to try in other browsers and will ask Kaiser to test. – edit – I replaced the code please see if it works for you now. Thank you!
She looks great. She is 63, but could pass for her late 40s, early 50s. And I love her in glasses(but I don’t like those frames).
I hate those frames, yet they are oddly flattering somehow. She does look good.
Is it important to be able to pass for someone 10-20 younger than one is? I’m sure without all the makeup she looks her age, just like Susan Sarandon does. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
I may not agree with everything she says and does but I admire her a great deal. To overcome everything that happened in her youth and later accomplish great things is admirable…she is richer than God, she gives back, etc. F@ck it, I like her! Plus, she looks great!
I’m pretty sure she hasn’t kept her financial interest in WW a secret ir hides it? 1) she’s a spokesperson just like Jessica Simpson and Kirstie Alley and all the other brands who use celebrities to promote themselves…and 2) didn’t we have recent articles about her losing money on this deal? If we did then we knew she had a financial interest…Plus, I think she’s genuine in her desire to be healthy and by showing up to meetings she’s earning that paycheck.
agree, i don’t know why people think she is misleading i first heard that new as “Oprah is a WW shareholder now” so where is the lie she is only promoting her business the plus is just that a lot of people follow her already some people will always have something to say about everything
I did WW for about 8 years, from 15-23. I didn’t have a ton of success, but I’m a lot smarter than I was back then…I’d buy WW’s insanely overpriced “snacks” that were like $7 a box and absolutely LOADED with weird ingredients. That’s ultimately what I hate about WW, they preach “points” over eating actual FOOD. The Core plan of yesteryear was the closest thing WW has ever come to promoting healthy eating. And only about 10% of the class would do the Core plan.
I wish I could go back in time and tell the ladies in my meeting (and myself!) that giving up sugar and flour makes eating right SO MUCH EASIER. It’s not just calories in/calories out, there are cravings to deal with. That’s why I think low-carb plans like the ketogenic diet are the way to go (maintaining 70 lb weight loss over here! 205 > 135).
Shannon, that is amazing! Congratulations!!! I’m struggling to lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight. It is so hard to change habits, especially when you’re chronically sleep deprived.
I LOVE the glasses. She looks wonderful.
I love Oprah, but her WW commercials make me sad. sad because here is a woman who has everything, and the love and respect of people everywhere…and all of that is not enough, she still feels like she is not enough until she loses weight.
If it was about eating healthy, then go do that. But this is about losing weight.
And this comes after at least 10 years of seeing her happy, plus size face on O magazine. Were those smiles all lies? It’s so sad.
I really enjoyed reading people’s comments about their weight struggles. It feels very connecting because it’s something a lot of women deal with. I’ve never done Weight Watchers because I’m a vegetarian, but I did do low carb and got down to about 108. Then I had severe medical issues when I was 28 and I ballooned up to 150, by far the heaviest I’d ever been. I’m back down to about 125, but it’s hard. My physical limitations prevent me from standing for very long, so preparing healthy, fresh food three times a day is out. I tend to agree with Magnolia, I wish the big dieting companies were more about healthy eating. It would also be great if they catered to more lifestyles – vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, whole 30 and more. I also agree that taking advice from someone who has yo-yo dieted for her entire life would be a non-starter for me.