I am, like, reeling in horror from this commercial I just saw. There are these two sisters, walking in the park, sharing sisterly laughter and love, as they talk about this weight-loss study they're taking part in. They're both pretty slim, but Sister #1 is like superskinny. Well, she (Sister #1) is talking about how during the study she took this new diet pill and she lost a lot of weight, feels great, has more energy, blah blah blah. Then Sister #2 goes, "Yeah but now it's my turn to take the pill... and you have to stop!" Sister #1 responds with, "Fat chance!" They both giggle and the commercial ends.
Okay, excuse me? First of all, these girls do not need to be dieting. They were both these little perfect skinny things, and Sister #1 was teetering at the edge of waifhood. But despite the fact that neither of these girls looked like they were in need of diet pills in the first place, is scrawny-ass waif girl going to stop taking the pills? Fat chance! "Fat chance! I want to medicate myself till I'm so skinny I have to be tube-fed!" "Fat chance! I'm already thinner than most anybody ever is, but I'm just not thin enough!" "Fat chance! Ridding my body of every cell of chub is much more important than my health!" "Fat chance! And really, girls, there's nothing wrong with abusing yourself in the quest for thinness! Anorexia shmexia!"
Basically, this ad is trying to make the self-harming, dangerous, body-and-mind-destroying phenomenon of eating disorders seem normal, even cute. Yeah, real fucking cute. Hey, girls, not only are you just not good enough the way you are, but you need to risk your health and even your life to get good enough! Don't worry, everyone does it! Really! Go ahead! And the fact that our drug company will be profiting off your self-destruction, well, that's just a little side bonus for us.
Interestingly, the bottom of the screen featured a little disclaimer during this commercial. Apparently, the claims of this drug's miraculous effects are unsubstantiated by the FDA. Well, imagine that! I'm just plum amazed.
Well, I've gotta go. I'm going to go eat some dinner like a normal healthy person who doesn't o.d. on appetite suppressants. See ya.