Infomercial Advertising...Are You a Target?

by Rod Johnson CPT

Have you seen an infomercial lately? If you keep late-hours in front of the tube, chances are you have come face-to-face with one. They often imitate actual talk shows, well -- maybe not the Jerry Springer Show.

Infomercials are a form of advertisement, aimed at selling products or services to consumers. Many of them come with promises of guaranteed weight loss to promises of a flatter, toned mid-section almost overnight. Basically, infomercials sometimes entice us to believe we will look better with little to no effort. Despite what we think about them, they have managed to hook millions of Americans to shed billions of dollars on products that they hope will help them achieve their goals.

This year marks the OFFICIAL 20th anniversary of infomercials. "The very first infomercial was aired at the end of September 1984 on Sunday evening at 11pm for Herbalife. It was a live 90-minute broadcast that showed huge checks being given on stage at a hotel to their top distributors, " says Steven Dworman, a former Infomercial Marketing Report publisher. And, author of $12 Billion of Inside Marketing Secrets Discovered through Direct Response Marketing.

Infomercials received their official start in 1984 when President Reagan signed the Cable Communications Policy Act deregulating television. Infomercials are also known as television commercials, runs in two formats -- long and short. The long format may run about 28 minutes in length. It conveniently allows more time for marketers to explain a product or service. Short formats such as Time Life books or compact disc orders last 2 minutes, more or less. The same holds true for online and radio spots.

Although we celebrate the 20th anniversary of infomercials on television, they actually began earlier.
“Infomercials have been around since 1948, although then they were only 5 minutes long. The 28-minute format that is so popular today, hit its stride in the mid-80’s,” says Don Cole, Executive Vice President of Media at Fletcher Martin Ewing.

The direct response industry is one of the fastest growing segments of the retailing industry. In 2003, the direct response industry, which consists of long and short commercials/infomercials, live home shopping channels, Internet marketing and radio advertising generated estimated revenues of $256-billon.

Today, Americans spend a great deal of money on direct response products, especially health-related products. Infomercials, paid-programming, and a form of direct response advertisement are at the top of their game.

“According to a recent research consumer spending study, over 57-percent of respondents preferred shopping via infomercials to traditional retail stores,” published by Electronic Retailing Association (ERA), the trade association for major companies who use the power of electronic media to sell goods and services to the public.

The cost of many of these products might appear inexpensive to some, but in reality, consumers shell out five to six times their worth. In a report by Justin Leonard, The Story of how Infomercials Companies “Really” Get Paid, he describes the costs associated with the production of an infomercial. “It’s very expensive to sell products on TV. Most infomercial companies won’t accept a product unless there’s a 5:1 profit margin. In other words, a product that is sold on TV for $19.95 had better cost only $4 or less to make.”

“Get rock hard abs in just two minutes a day,” “cure-all,” or “take it off and keep it off.”

If any of these ad-phases sound familiar, they are commonplace today. Slick marketers use words to get consumers to believe into the hype. Most of these misleading or false claims are often seen in weight loss advertising followed by consumer testimonials, i.e. “I lost 70 pounds in 30 days,” along with before and after photos.

Infomercials have become a great mainstay for companies looking to promote and sell products.
This multi-billion-dollar business has gained popularity and notoriety simply by enticing consumers on the convenience of buying product from watching television, listening to the radio or by surfing through the web.
However, we all are aware that with convenience - comes fraud. Although some of the ads we hear and see might seem believable, they are not!

To protect consumers from this nightmare, the Federal Trade Commission, the consumer watchdog, is authorized to act when it appears that a company’s advertising is deceptive.

“The FTC watches the industry very carefully. They have brought a number of cases for false claims against the marketers over the past 20 years. However, if the products don’t do what they say they’re supposed to do, by law a consumer is protected by a return policy. It behooves everyone in the industry to make their product as satisfactory as possible or they will be flooded by returns,” says Steven Dworman.

Under the FTC Trade Communications Act:
- advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive:
- advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
- advertisements cannot be unfair.

Summary of FTC suggestions to consumers interested in responding to an infomercial:
- be skeptical about claims;
- ask for written substantiation made in presentations;
- be cautious about testimonials (they may not reflect the typical experience of most consumers);
- be aware that “experts” who endorse a product may be paid by the advertiser;
- not be pressured to buy immediately; and
- check out the company with your local consumer protection agency, the Better Business Bureau and your state Attorney General’s office.

More specifically, the FTC has policies relating to infomercials. Infomercial advertisers must have proof to back up all expressed and implied claims that reasonable consumers would take from an ad. Advertisers should make sure that the infomercial doesn’t deceptively mimic the format of news reports, talk shows, or other independent programming.

The FTC cases have required companies to clearly disclose the program being watched is a paid advertisement. These advertisements must include the product name listed at the beginning of the infomercial and prior to providing consumers with product ordering instructions.

The FTC is not alone in their pursuit to ensure infomercials on the straight and narrow. The ERA works closely with the government agency, most importantly, marketers of infomercials. Although they are different, “we [the ERA] are trying to get the marketers to see the product before it hits the market. We try to do it quickly to get bad shows off the air,” said Barbara Tulipane, ERA President and CEO. Direct Response Marketing ads generally are “a safe and convenient way to shop.”

“Infomercials are wonderful in our market based economy. They allow bootstrap entrepreneurs to launch their inventions without the 8 figure budgets that are needed to launch a package goods brand. And, they don't have to fight for distribution among the big box retailers. If an infomercial product clicks, Wal-Mart and Target cheerfully take it on as most people still will not buy over the air,” said Cole.

What should a consumer do to ensure their safety?

This year, the Electronic Retailing Association launched “The ERA Self Regulatory Program,” designed to improve business practices and increase consumer confidence, by removing unsubstantiated programming from the airwaves.

“ERA advocates increased ethical standards in the direct response industry because not only is it the right thing to do, but consumer confidence is good for business. This program was created not only to improve industry credibility, but also to help companies comply with existing regulations,” said Tulipane. In addition, there’s savvyshoppers.org, also produced by ERA, a web site designed to help consumers report fraudulent advertising.

Savvy Shoppers suggest consumers:
- Know there rights
- Protect yourself
- [Know] Who can help
- Shipping
- Returns
- Unordered items
- Card disputes

The direct response industry grows on average 10 percent each year. Some anticipated trends include fortune 500 companies to produce long form spots to sell product. And, consumers will have more convenience at their fingertips. Credit card account information will be tied into a button on their TV remote which will help make home shopping that much easier.

The bottom line: Infomercials are a convenient way to buy products fast and with little effort. However, it’s most important consumers use good judgement, and common sense first.

Rod Johnson is a Health Producer for CNN Headline News in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s also a Fitness Consultant and Personal Fitness Trainer. For more information on Rod Johnson visit: www.SealOfFitness.com.

The Optimal Length Concept: Part 1

by Robert Thoburn

This two-part series introduces a new concept in resistance exercise: The Optimal Length (OL) concept. I’ll briefly tell you how it came about, and how to put it to use in your R.O.B. workouts. As many readers will already now, R.O.B. training is my favorite method of building muscle and losing body fat quickly, particularly for the ‘slow gainer’ (like myself).

Force
Push against an object and your muscles will have generated force. Push as hard as you can against an object that you can’t possibly move and your muscles will have generated maximum force (or something close to it).

Remember the scene in Pumping Iron where Franco Columbo grabs the end of some old guy’s car and lifts it away from the curb so he can get out?

Okay, so maybe you don’t remember that scene. In any case, if Franco hadn’t been strong enough to actually lift the car, then his muscles would have performed a maximal isometric contraction (MIC) --‘isometric’ because his muscles didn’t shorten to any appreciable extent as they generated force (hence his failure to move the car); ‘maximal’ because they generated as much force as they could.

More Force = More Muscle…
…This seems to be the consensus opinion, anyways. Many well-respected academic research scientists believe that if you want to make your muscles more buff then you’ve got to make them generate higher levels of force than they’re accustomed to. The higher, the better.

“Cool, man. So then why not just perform MICs? I mean, why bother actually lifting weights up and down?”

Good questions. But wait a second.

Muscle fibers and contraction
The force generated by your muscles is produced by hair-like cells known as muscle fibers. When you lift an object, your muscle fibers have generated enough force to overcome the resistance provided by that object and undergo shortening, or contraction. Hence, the object goes up.

Simply stated, and for reasons beyond the scope of this article, as your muscle fibers shorten they become less capable of generating force. Consequently, every muscle on your body may be argued to have some range of lengths within which the force-generating ability of its constituent fibers is greatest, or optimal. This is called the optimal length. Interestingly, because of joint mechanics some commonly used resistance exercises (e.g., standing barbell curls for the biceps) may fail to adequately stress your muscle fibers within this particular range of lengths.

Okay, now let’s re-examine our questions from above. If higher force levels are better when it comes to building muscle, then why not make your muscles perform maximal or near-maximal contractions right around the optimal length? Why bother performing any contractions outside of this range, where the ability to transmit a muscle-building signal may be much reduced, possibly to zero?

Optimal Length (OL) Training
When your muscle fibers generate force and pull on a joint they are said to produce torque around that joint. The theory behind OL training is to allow the target muscle fibers to be exercised within that narrow range of motion (i.e., muscle fiber lengths) that is optimal for force generation. Note that this range is not necessarily optimal for torque production. Quite the contrary, you will often find that you can’t lift as much weight at the OL. But that’s okay, because it’s the amount of force generated by your muscle fibers that’s most important –not how heavy an external load (i.e., how much weight) you are actually capable of moving by applying that force.

I also wish to emphasize that, like most resistance exercise methods, OL training is based much more on theory than rigidly scrutinized scientific fact. It is by no means proven.

The iHold
In addition to lifting the load through a narrow range of motion, each rep will carry an isometric component: The isometric ‘hold’, or iHold, as I call it (not to be confused with the iPod J).

Let’s look at an example, one of my favorites, the barbell squat. When your thighs are just above parallel to the floor during this exercise, the leverage or mechanical advantage afforded to your quadriceps muscles by the knee joint is at its lowest. Consequently, the muscle fibers of the quadriceps have to generate a lot more force in order to lift any given load through this point. Fortunately, biological evolution designed the human skeleton such that most of the muscle fibers are at a length that is optimal for force generation at this point. This helps to make up for the poor mechanical advantage. However, the compensation is not complete: You still end up being weaker at this point in the squat exercise than at any other. Nevertheless, it’s here some scientists agree, that your potential to transmit a muscle-building signal may be the greatest.

As you extend your knee joint (i.e., straighten your legs) and return to the standing position during the squat exercise your mechanical advantage progressively improves: The muscle fibers of your quadriceps can keep the load moving with less and less force. Thus, the strength of the muscle-building signal fades and the load begins to feel lighter.

With the above in mind, the OL squat is performed as follows:

- With a loaded barbell across your upper back and shoulders, squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor (going any deeper than this does not increase the force requirements of the quadriceps).

- Extend your knees and rise up 5-6 inches or to the point where you feel the greatest tension develop in your quadriceps.

- Perform an iHold (i.e., hold the load in place) at the point of peak tension for 1 second.

- Squat back down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Repeat.

- At the end of your set return to the standing position and rack the barbell.

- Note that the same basic OL principles used during the squat can be applied when performing the leg press and hack squat..

No MICs?
Why I don’t recommend performing maximal isometric contractions (MICs)? Below I’ve listed some reasons, including some insightful comments from scientists with whom I’ve corresponded about OL training:

(1) First of all, MICs can build muscle. However, they’re not all that practical to perform. Absent the proper equipment you never really know if you are progressively overloading your muscles from one workout to the next, and if so, by how much.

(2) The nervous system may be designed to recruit more muscle fibers into action when you actually lift a load than when you perform an isometric action. Read the related comments provided by well-respected research scientists Drs. McGill and Burkholder, below.

(3) Some scientists whom I’ve spoken with suggest that the difference in muscle-building signal strength between a maximal contraction and a near-maximal one (e.g., 100% and 85% of maximum) may be trivial. This has not been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, mind you. But it does agree reasonably well with ‘the wisdom of the gym’.

(4) The ‘wisdom of the gym’ frequently suggests that the metabolic consequences of force generation (e.g., muscle fatigue, increased blood flow) may play a role in stimulating muscle growth. I tend to think so, as do some scientists I’ve talked to. This partly explains why R.O.B. (Rest Only Briefly) training is my favorite muscle-building method. We will discuss it again briefly below. While MICs can certainly cause muscle fatigue and increase muscle blood flow, lifting sub-maximal loads until the point of temporary muscular failure (or closely thereabouts) may represent a more effective means to this end.

For the reasons cited above, including those mentioned by my scientific friends, coupled with my own personal experiences, I prefer lifting sub-maximal loads to performing MICs or purely isometric actions.

End of Part 1
In Part 2, I will tell you exactly how to incorporate the OL concept into your own workouts. I’ll also provide a sample list of OL exercises, complete with instructions on how to perform them.

In the mean time, keep visiting www.robthoburn.com for FREE articles, and to purchase my e-books and R.O.B. Club forum memberships.

10 Quickest Ways to Become More Positive

by Dr. Alan Zimmerman

Part 3 of 5

Welcome back. If you’ve read Parts 1 and 2 of this article, you know that you have the power to motivate yourself. And you have the power to accomplish incredible things—if you just implement a few, simple strategies. I’ve given you four of the strategies so far. But I think today’s strategies are especially powerful. So let’s get started.

5. Say affirmations.
Somehow or other, every living creature instinctively knows how to survive. A squirrel, for example, instinctively knows it had better gather some nuts when autumn comes. And it doesn’t matter if there are any other squirrels around, teaching him to perform such a feat. His instincts tell him to store nuts.

The same goes for ducks. Even if he lives alone, something pushes him to fly south when the weather turns cold. There’s no such thing as duck school teaching him to start his journey around the tenth of November. His instincts just tell him what to do and how to survive.

To some extent, all living creatures have a bit of instinctual knowledge. Even human beings know something about staying alive. Human beings, however, have one major tool that other creatures do not have. In addition to survival, human beings can determine, to some extent, how successful they’re going to be. They can do that by carefully choosing the words they tell themselves.

In fact it’s almost impossible to rise above your own words. If you tell yourself that you just can’t do something, you’ll probably be right. And if you tell yourself you can do it, you’ll also be right most of the time. It’s called self-talk or affirmations. It’s making sure that you say the things you want to become.

Now that might sound strange. A lot of communication experts would advise you to say what you mean. And that is important when it comes to interpersonal relationships. But when it comes to being a positive person that has greater and greater amounts of success, it’s extremely important that you say what you want. You could tell yourself affirmations as simple as “I like myself.” The more you say it, the more you’ll feel it, believe it, and be it. Tell yourself affirmations such as, “I’m full of energy… I’ve got enormous amounts of enthusiasm…I easily maintain my ideal weight…I am exercising three times a week…and… I can face all situations with confidence.”

Whatever you want to become or want to achieve will be facilitated with the use of affirmations.
The famous engineer, Charles Kettering, learned about this several years ago. He knew that the focus of your mind determines the results of your behavior. So he explained the process to his friend Joe.
Joe was skeptical. So Charles made a bet with him. He said he would buy a beautiful birdcage for his friend, who would hang it in the living room. He bet that Joe would have to put a bird in the cage. Joe took the bet, thinking it would be an easy bet to win.

Three months went by, during which time Joe had a large number of visitors. They all came into the living room, and, of course they immediately asked, “Where’s the bird, Joe?”
Joe explained that he had never had a bird. They didn’t believe him. They said, “Joe, nobody has a beautiful birdcage like that without a bird in it!”

At night, Joe kept dreaming about their comment. Over and over he heard them say, “Nobody has a birdcage without a bird in it!” He kept thinking about it, until one day he found himself driving by a pet store. He peeked in the window. And as you can guess, when Charles came back to visit his friend, Joe had a beautiful bird in the beautiful birdcage. A very similar thing happens when you tell yourself positive affirmations. You are hanging empty birdcages in your mind. And you’re not content until you fill the birdcage with belief and action.
I can’t overemphasize this point. If you want to become a more positive person, you must spend a few minutes a day telling yourself positive affirmations. It’s absolutely critical. That’s why I produced a 6-pack CD album on the subject, outlining what you should say as well as how and when you should say your affirmations. And as a reader of Lee Labrada’s newsletter, you can get a copy of the album at a major discount. Just click here to find out more.

A healthy person spends a few minutes a day exercising and feeding his body. And a truly positive person spends a few minutes a day feeding his mind the affirmations it needs. Make sure you do it.

6. Establish some positive triggers.
Positive people live in the same world that negative people do. They both get exposed to thousands of words, images, and situations every day, and often times they get exposed to the same things. The difference is that positive people have established a number of triggers that ignite a positive response inside themselves.
Zig Ziglar gives a somewhat comical example. He talks about the stoplights at intersections all across the country. Most people, he says, have turned them into negatives. They come up to a red light and begin to grumble about the inconvenience. They’re mildly upset.

But think about, Mr. Ziglar says. Those “stop lights” are far from being a negative. They’re really “go lights.” You know that whenever one of those lights didn’t work, traffic was backed up in all directions. So the light is truly a positive, because when they’re working you go faster and more safely to your destination.
Ziglar says you should look at every traffic light as a positive. Whenever you see one, think, “Great! Someone was concerned with my safety and the smooth flow of traffic. Now isn’t that wonderful!”

Of course it may sound a little crazy, but his point is well taken. You need some things in your daily life that will trigger an automatic positive response. And the more you have the more positive you’ll become.
Some people carry a little cross or a religious symbol in their pocket. Whenever they reach in and feel it, they’re reminded of the positive benefits of their faith.

Some people look for smiles. Whenever they see someone smiling on the street, in a passing car, or down the hallway at work, they put a smile on their face. Go ahead and establish some positive triggers that you can use each and every day. When those triggers occur, think a positive thought or make a positive comment. Your triggers might include such things as certain landmarks on the way to work or those moments when a commercial comes on the radio or television. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you establish some positive triggers and use them.

That’s it for today. I’ll give you some more quick ways to become a more positive person in upcoming articles. But I encourage you to sign up for your FREE subscription to my weekly internet newsletter called “Dr. Zimmerman’s Tuesday Tip.” And when you do sign up, I’ll send you a FREE book and a $10 coupon. All you have to do is go to www.DrZimmerman.com where you’ll find the sign up details.

Dr. Alan Zimmerman is one of most sought-after motivational speakers in America, and a recent inductee into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame.

To contact Alan, visit www.drzimmerman.com