USA TODAY International Edition
Why male celebrities are hawking diet plans
DJ Khaled, Rob Lowe are newest ambassadors
The flood of celebrities hawking diet plans in ads is taking on a more masculine tinge.
In the past, the airwaves included actors or singers like Jennifer Hudson, Valerie Bertinelli, Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson. And don’t forget Oprah Winfrey, not only an endorser of Weight Watchers but a major investor, as well. This year, however, more men are in the mix — and sometimes surprising ones.
Rob Lowe has switched from playing white-suited Col. Harland Sanders in KFC ads — fried chicken is not exactly considered a diet food — to the new celebrity face of weight-loss outfit Atkins Nutritionals. Also this week, Weight Watchers welcomed hip-hop producer and recording artist DJ Khaled as a social media ambassador.
The gradual shift to include more celebrity pitchmen for diet plans, not just pitchwomen, marks a recognition by diet companies that men collectively have their share of weight to lose as well and are becoming more serious about shedding it, both for the sake of vanity and health.
Indeed, 38.7% of men ages 20 and older are overweight and 35% were obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in analyzing data from 2013 and 2014. Of women the same age, 26.5% were overweight and 40.4% were obese.
Diet companies say they are following the market.
“We identified as a primary target for growth what we call self-directed people who are interested in eating better,” said Scott Parker, chief marketing officer of Atkins Nutritionals. “The self-directed target is pretty evenly split between men and women.”
Recruiting more men to the weightloss cause could help to inflate the U.S. diet products and services market beyond its expected 3.2% this year to $70.3 billion, according to Marketdata, a Tampa-based market research firm that tracks the diet market.
Commercial weight-loss companies are likely to lead that growth with a 12.7% gain to $3.55 billion this year, thanks to dieters who have more income in a stronger economy.
Diet companies have, to varying degrees, tried to reach men for years. Often, the celebrities have been retired sports stars like former NFL player Dan Dierdorf who talked of letting their waistlines go after leaving the field. Dierdorf, who became an announcer, pitched Ultra Slim-Fast a generation ago. Retired Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino serves as an endorser for Nutrisystem, along with female stars, like singer Marie Osmond and actress Melissa Joan Hart.
In Lowe, Atkins is getting a celebrity who “appeals equally” to men and women, as discovered in research. And DJ Khaled’s 3.9 million Twitter followers alone establish him as a powerful online force when it comes to reaching a new audience.