Breast Implant TV Commercials Coming

[Guest guest]

http://www.mercola.com/2004/aug/21/breast_implant_ads.htm

 

Breast Implant TV Commercials Coming

 

Mentor Corp, a medical device maker based in Santa

Barbara, Calif., will unveil its first ads marketing

breast implants this fall on new episodes of Extreme

Makeover, a primetime national TV show that shows the

results and after-effects of plastic surgery

makeovers. The company will produce six commercials to

promote its implants during the ABC show that

documents the multiple surgeries women endure to

become beautiful.

 

Mentor has the stats to back up their plan. Over the

past seven years, breast implant surgeries have risen

more than 175 percent. That said, the industry is

still feeling the after-effects of a safety scare in

which Dow Corning faced some 400,000 potential claims

and 20,000 lawsuits before filing for bankruptcy in

1995.

 

Public health experts believe shows like Extreme

Makeover and The Swan (Fox) spur interest in such

augmentation surgeries by young women but sidestep the

many inherent risks of plastic surgery. Some also

wonder why companies don't use some of their marketing

budget to do safety checks on their products.

 

Experts in the advertising arena see a different

problem with marketing breast implants to female

consumers: Like promoting the advantages high-speed

computer chips embedded deep inside today's personal

computers, breast implants are never seen once they

are used.

 

ExpressIndia August 4, 2004

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

Chalk it up to the mass media to take advantage of the

misery many women feel because they have a distorted

view of themselves by producing TV shows that

allegedly " help " a select few escape their problems.

(I'm truly surprised people waste their valuable time

watching this nonsense.)

 

Based on the success of such shows, it's no wonder

companies making breast implants want to build

marketshare by bypassing physicians for the public.

That's the same way Enzyte has become a household name

as a " natural male enhancement " drug due to heavy

promotions on cable news and sports programming.

 

Back to the issue at hand, like drugs, breast implants

are a temporary solution to a deeper, long-lasting

problem: a poor self-image that motivates women to

have this surgery in the first place. There are more

natural solutions women can use to solve this problem.