Fitness Sponsored By Potato Chips
By Dr Bill Stillwell - Nov 14, 2010
Yesterday, I went to a gym at the invitation of a friend. It's a
really swank place and 500 people could probably work out in there,
without a hitch. They have everything you need, including a massage
parlor. (And just my luck, I forgot my credit card.)
There was enough machinery in this place to build an iron sculpture
twelves stories tall and then some. There were enough weights in the
place to send the entire Gambino family to the bottom of Davy Jones'
locker and keep them there, 'til they turned to coral.
Once we checked in, after making a left turn toward the lockers, we
were greated by an 8 foot sign that advertised...potato chips. We
both stopped in our tracks. Could they be serious? Not only 8 feet
of sign, but on the sign it said, "A healthy choice...and available
in the "Healthy Cafe."
Wow! Gadzooks! WTF?
Potato chips are now a health food? And proudly sold by a fitness
company? I must have been asleep at the switch when this transition
took place. Since I was guest here, I didn't want to meddle. But my
friend, who has lost 50 some pounds by changing his lifestyle, got a
tad worked up in the locker. He thought the sign was disgraceful and
he wanted to complain.
Once he gets worked up, there isn't any changing his mind. We walked
to the front desk and he asked to see the general manager. (And as
luck would have it, she was in.) We were ushered up the stairs to
her office, which was pretty large. When I was running a large
surgical operation in New York, I never had an office quite this
big. ( But then again, I didn't have a snack food company pouring
millions into my operation.)
We were all intoduced and then my friend made his complaint about
the sign. He told the GM about his weight loss and that he
considered the sign to be offensive to people who were really trying
hard to lose weight. He told her, in no uncertain terms, that potato
chips are NOT health food and that the sign should be removed.
She was sympathetic, going so far as to imply that she agreed with
his point of view, and said that many GM's in the organization had
also voiced their concern. She also told us that the top dogs in the
organization did not agree and that, no matter what any of us
thought, the signs were staying.
The snack food company had paid out a lot of dough and nobody at the
top was giving it back. "They had a contract they had to honor."
Believe me, I thoroughly endorse honoring a contract. But I also
believe you don't enter into such hypocritical agreements. (Like the
American Diabetes Association getting one third of it's funding from
a soft drink company.)
It's a crazy world we live in, where well meaning folks team up with
sleazeballs, in order to "provide help."
One thing I have to say though, the salesman who put this deal
together...between a fitness company and a snack food manufacturer
...who wouldn't want to hire that guy for your sales department? At
least somebody was thinking outside the box.
Here at Favorite Formulas, we'll try and steer you right, without
any advertising money from fat merchants. My advice: If you see an
ad like this at your health club or gym, complain. Some companies
actually care about what their customers think.
Meanwhile, there's no time like today to get started on your own
health plan. The better shape you get into in the next couple of
years, the less you'll have to worry about Nobamacare.
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