Where Do They Find These People?

The American weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Americans are so concerned about their appearance much more than their health and when this kind of money is involved you can bet that there are millions of dollars associated with advertising it. However, there’s one aspect of weight loss advertising that I’ve never understood.

Where do they cast these overweight people for print and internet advertising?

The picture above is an example of a story that appeared on Yahoo! on Monday June 19, 2006. This man’s obese face is gleefully about to chow on a drumstick. Honestly, it’s probably the happiest face I’ve ever seen. However, when you’re cast into a role that is described as ‘Looking for overweight white male who looks overly excited when presented with fried chicken’, it may be tuning you into something. Just maybe.