“Don’t Break Your Piggy Bank Over South Beach Diet Recipes!”

All That Glitters…

No question, the South Beach diet has taken the world by storm.  The popularity of the South Beach Diet has knocked diet heavyweights like Atkins off the charts.  Why?  I think the only reason the South Beach Diet has become so infamous is not because the South Beach Diet works so well.  Rather, because South Beach, a very exclusive area in Florida, is all glitz and glamour and has a very inviting seductive appeal - like Hollywood.  But like the saying goes, “All that glitters ain’t gold.”  The South Beach Diet sounds good, but there are some serious drawbacks. 

It Costs How Much??

A yearly membership for the basic plan costs $265 – not including the other paraphernalia needed to be successful with this diet.  The more advanced levels cost almost double and triple the amount.  We still have not factored in other items like the South Beach Diet book, which you must purchase otherwise you will not be able to follow the diet.  The cost of the diet book on Amazon costs between $49.00 and $69.00.  We haven’t even discussed the cost of their pre-packaged foods.  Let’s not go there.  Actually, let’s go there. 

A Recipe for Disaster

The South Beach Diet recipes on this food plan require buying their pre-packaged foods, and their prepackaged foods are expensive.  Their daily menu requires you to eat their snacks.  In addition, they market their pre-packaged products so aggressively, you end up feeling obligated to buy them not only because of their aggressive marketing tactics, but because the recipes that look the most appealing are too complicated to make. 

What’s in a Name?

Advertising agencies sell illusions.  That’s their job.  Do you remember Gloria Vanderbilt jeans?  Do you remember Sergio Valente jeans?  How about Jordache jeans?  Back in the day (way back in the day), these jeans used to cost a fortune.  I would have killed to get the “Jordache look.”  I begged my mother to buy those jeans for me!  But what exactly was the “Jordache look?”  The model for the commercial was tall (at least 5’11 maybe taller), blonde, thin and had long silky hair which she flung around with complete abandon while dancing.  I completely bought into the illusion of what a pair of Jordache jeans would turn me into!  Meanwhile, I looked nothing like the Jordache model.  I’m African-American, 5’3, and at the time I weighed 195 pounds, and my hair was short and nappy!  I couldn’t fling my nappy hair if I wanted to, and at 195 pounds, I certainly couldn’t fit into a pair of Jordache jeans!

But the reality is these expensive jeans were made out of the same cheap cotton as other no-frills brand jeans.  So why did these jeans cost an arm and a leg and why were they so wildly popular?  It’s really simple – much marketing hype of the name and what consumers thought they would get if they purchased the jeans – the man of their dreams.

The same advertising strategy went into the marketing of the South Beach Diet.   People think that by purchasing the South Beach Diet, they will live the lavish life style of the rich and beautiful – on the beach.  Talk about illusions!  They’re just selling us glitz and glamour.