Disaster Preparedness
I was in the middle of writing a post about the Katrina and 9/11 anniversaries, but got bored with it. Then another idea popped into my head, so I’ll do that one instead and keep the subject line intact.
Remember that weight loss drug I wrote about a couple of months ago that makes you crap your pants? Well, the makers of Alli prefer the term “treatment effects“. Here’s how they describe the most talked-about effect :
The active ingredient in alli attaches to some of the natural enzymes in the digestive system, preventing them from breaking down about a quarter of the fat you eat. Undigested fat cannot be absorbed and passes through the body naturally. The excess fat is not harmful. In fact, you may recognize it in the toilet as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza.
Gotta love that upbeat wording. “In fact, you may recognize…” As if somebody’s going to turn around and say “Heey..I know you!”
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Reminds me of that Christian Infomercial on Abs Fabs.
Say, you should really write that Katrina article if you have the time and the energy. I think your blogs at the time of the tragedy crystallized a lot of what was so wrong regarding FEMA and Bush’s response.
Comment by dAnimal — August 29, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Alli represents the biggest problem with weight in America. I’m not saying losing weight is easy — I’m trying now and it sucks — but when you have to take a pill that will make you shit your pants with oily residue rather than just making better food choices, that’s rough.
The people I feel bad for are the poor people on food stamps. They eat off the USDA’s Thrifty Food plan, which is fine, except that the food stamp program estimates we spend 30 percent of our budget on food, which is a gross over-estimation.
As such, you’ve got people too poor to eat the things they should — fruits, vegetables, lean meats — at a time when they need to get in that habit. When all you can live on is the Dollar Menu at McDonald’s, it’s hard to be healthy.
Comment by Dr. Pants — August 31, 2007 @ 9:22 am
What I’d love to hear were the comments on the first couple of drafts of that Alli piece.
“In fact, you may recognize it in the toilet as something
that looks like the rainbow colors on the street after a rainstorm.”
(Bob I like the rainbow bit, but most people don’t eat car oil, try again.)
“In fact, instead of that fat sticking to your thighs it will flow harmlessly into the toilet!”
(Bob I like the “not sticking to your thighs” bit but flowing harmlessly into the toilet is a bit graphic. Try again.)
“In fact, you may recognize it in the toilet as something that looks like the oil on top of a pepperoni pizza.”
(Okay this is better, pizza is a fattening food we all eat, ( but maybe use generic pizza instead?) and it doesn’t mention oily poop flowing into the toilet. I’m still a bit concerned that we are even suggesting people look into their toilet, but the client insists that we have to mention in in SOME fashion in order to fulfill some stupid government regulation. So we might just go with this one, sans pepperoni. Keep working on something better than anal leakage. I want something more positive and less graphic. Thanks, Sid.)
P.S. Bob, this whole project is making me sick, the copy alone is helping me lose weight. Hey, now we can claim that Alli is effective for me!
Comment by spocko — August 31, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
Baby got back…splash.
Comment by Kevin Hayden — September 3, 2007 @ 11:10 am