Blast from the Past: Diet Commercials

I was having trouble coming up with an idea for this week's Blast from the Past, and then my stomach grumbled. As I just posted a while ago, I made flaxseed-based pizza and focaccia low carb food this afternoon, as part of my continuing Atkins diet. Atkins was once a "fad" diet, so popular for a while, damage was even done to bakeries financially, in 2004. But there have been a lot of diets over the years. Let's see how many I can find. . .




1. Ah yes, the AYDS diet plan. As the title card says, it is perhaps the most unfortunately named product, ever.
2. The Hollywood 48 Hour Miracle diet is more recent, but the fad never got as big as Atkins.




3. Nutri/System is still around of course, but it's been around for a long time. The makers were brilliant in that the diet requires you to eat their food!
4. Jenny Craig is still around too, but she used to do her own commercials.




5. Weight Watchers is the grand dame of diet plans, so using the late Lynn Redgrave as a spokesperson was spot on.
6. South Beach Diet was a smaller, but still popular diet around the peak of Atkins.




7. Formula 75 Diet Plan is one I don't remember. But I'd say that since we've never heard of it, it must not have worked very well.
8. Deal A Meal had to be included, didn't it? How could I leave out Richard Simmons?

Okay, so maybe that wasn't my most scintillating edition of Blast from the Past. But it is interesting to see which of these diets have staying power. That's it for me for now. Happy Monday, and have a great week, everybody!

SNL: Little Richard Simmons (Eddie Murphy)

OK, while I'm on a roll of non- (or mostly non-) political posts, here is one of my very favorite Saturday Night Live skits, "Little Richard Simmons." This was before most of the world knew who Eddie Murphy was, or what he was capable of. He manages to turn the Richard Simmons Show (an actual excercise show in the 80s) and Little Richard into the same character.

Hilarious. And don't give me homophobic. I'm gay, and I think it's funny, so there.