Weight Loss and the Weight Media The media bombards us with advertisements and articles about weight loss supplements. We can't turn on the television or radio without seeing or hearing an ad for Dexatrim, and we can't flip through a magazine without seeing an ad or article about Metabolife. The way different media sources treat weight loss supplements greatly influences the public's perception of these products. This essay will examine a Newsweek article titled “Mad about Metabolife,” an advertisement for Hydroxycut by Mademoiselle, and a radio advertisement for Carbolife Gold to illustrate how the media presents the use of dietary supplements to promote weight loss. Would you rather exercise for an hour and a half five days a week and see no signs of weight loss, or take a pill once a day and start seeing noticeable weight loss in the first week? If you're like most people who want to lose weight, you want to lose weight as quickly and easily as possible, and so you would choose the latter. Advertisers and columnists are aware of people's desire to lose weight quickly and, in fact, all three media sources examined begin their advertisement or article by describing how weight-loss supplements promote quick and easy weight loss. In big bold letters at the top of the Hydroxycut ad is a quote that says, "Losing 31 pounds was so easy with Hydroxycut!" (MuscleTech, 2001, p. 175). Then, in slightly smaller letters, the testimonial continues with: "I never dreamed I could lose 15 pounds so easily, but Hydroxycut made it possible" (MuscleTech, 2001, p. 175). Similarly, Carbolife Gold's radio advertisement begins... in the middle of the newspaper... in his hand, selling knowledge about weight loss supplements. The article provides the public with information about weight loss supplements that advertisers try to hide. In fact, the advertisement and the magazine article try to sell the public opposite information, and in this sense the advertisement and the article are two sides of the same coin. However, the greater preponderance of weight-loss supplement advertising over media sources addressing the risks of such supplements tilts the coin in favor of supplement manufacturers, and such disparities in odds can be dangerous for consumers. Works cited Carbolife Gold (2001, October 7). KRTI 106.7. Cowley, F., Reno, J. & Underwood, A. (1999, October 4). Crazy about Metabolife.Newsweek, 52-53. MuscleTech R & D. (2001, October). Hydroxycutting. Mademoiselle, 175.