Oprah gains with weight loss manifesto
The Show: A Weight Watchers commercial The Moment: Oprah’s Manifesto
Dressed in expensive loungewear and gold jewelry, Oprah Winfrey sits on plush outdoor furniture and gazes at her bestie, the camera.
“Inside every overweight woman is a woman she knows she can be,” she intones with enough gravitas to power two confessions, three commencement speeches and a State of the Union address. Piano music begins to play. “Many times you look in a mirror and you don’t recognize yourself. Because you’ve gotten lost. Buried in the weight. That you carry.” Images of Winfrey working out appear. “Nothing you’ve ever been through is wasted,” she goes on. “So every time I tried and failed has brought me to this most powerful moment.” The music swells.
First of all, I hope that Oprah never crosses to the dark side. Because if she appeared on TV saying, “Let’s take over the financial system,” or “Everyone should kill her spouse,” people would do it — she is that convincing.
Second, I was surprised that she was shilling so hard for Weight Watchers.
I mean, yeah, weight loss is part of good general health, but she sounds like a shrink delivering a world-shaking manifesto, like she’s curing cancer, ending global warming and solving our childhood issues all at once.
Then I found out that last October she bought10 per cent of the company, for $43.2 million, and that the stock value has tripled since.
Her shares are now worth $148 million.
Last week, after the initial spots aired, the stock went up again. No wonder she sounds so passionate. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She appears Monday through Thursday.