Bodymedia

            In the 2011 January issue of Women’s Health Magazine, an advertisement for bodymedia fit armband appeared. The print advertisement for this weight loss device makes references to popular culture, utilizes word play, and creates an argument for the device.

            This full page advertisement features a large bottle that has a bodymedia armband around the base of the bottle with a light background full of confetti. In the center of the page over the bottle are the words “Here’s to the Losers.” At the bottom of the page is additional information about the body media fit armband and its benefits. 

             Featured in the January issue of the magazine, this ad is appealing to the magazine readers who are trying to lose weight, specifically young to middle aged women. This is a good context to place the ad since readers of Women’s Health are typically looking to achieve or maintain health; weight management is usually a prominent focus in this popular women’s magazine. This bodymedia advertisement uses references to stereotypical American New Year’s celebrations such as confetti and what appears to be a Champaign bottle to attract readers who have made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, a popular resolution among American women.

             The advertisement uses data from a study as a form of logos to appeal to readers. According to the ad the armband “tracks your caloric intake and burn as well as sleep patterns and gives you insights into your body’s inner workings” to ultimately allow “you (to) lose up to 3X more weight.” Deductive reasoning would indicate that having a better awareness and accurate account of your caloric intake and output would be helpful in weight management. Additionally the reference to the study data of additional weight loss is an effective logical appeal because the armband will allow for more weight loss. This sort of data is a very successful way to present the benefits of a product because consumers will take these results as given and fail to investigate the results fully.

             Bodymedia attempts to create credibility to its armband product by using scientific and technological language. The armband is referred to as a “decoder device” with “innovative technology.”  While the language about how exactly the device works and its technologies are vague, ethos is still established. The claim that the product will allow the consumer to lose three times more weight is said to be “clinically proven.” Even without additionally information this phrasing alone brings credibility to the product and the technology it uses in weight management. 

            The use of ethos in this advertisement is interesting and the dominant persuasive tool in this argument. In most weight loss products there is a careful balance of encouraging and empowering consumers to lose weight and use their product without insulting the consumer about his or her weight. This careful balance is not clearly achieved in the armband’s advertisement. The major tagline “Here’s to the losers” has a number of interesting characteristics. The language creates a tone of cheer and echoes a toast, continuing the New Year’s theme. The word “loser” is referring to individuals who lose weight in this advertisement, but the word is typically thought of and used to describe an individual in a negative way or even an insult.  Working from this basic understanding of the word “loser” at first glance it seems the advertisement is calling individuals who are overweight losers, in the traditional negative sense. Yet these so called “losers” are being toasted. This simple word choice is very powerful and it causes an immediate reaction. The reaction that would be produced in the reader could vary substantially from person to person and might not be the intended response; some readers could be insulted by the diction while others could feel motivated to lose weight. The diction used in the advertisement evokes emotion effectively however it is not clear if the emotion produced would lead the reader to buy the product.