Oprah buys 10% share in Weight Watchers

TuffChixRule
TuffChixRule Posts: 190 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
What does everyone think about this? Will Oprah be able to help the Weight Watchers brand?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/10/19/oprah-grabs-a-slice-of-weight-watchers-but-the-diet-giant-might-still-be-doomed/
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Replies

  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    No opinion.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    Doubt it. I hated WW when I was on it in 2009. I swear they had me on the equivalent of 1200 calories a day and they told me I couldn't eat my exercise points back because I was exercising before I started WW so that didn't count.
    I was sooooo hungry all the time and when I brought it up they would always tell me, "Oh you're not eating the right foods," It was so awful.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    Will Oprah be able to help them? Probably via advertising, but not via any meaningful change. She has a pretty big market influence.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    The shake people got a huge jump in sales when she wheeled out her Wagon O Fat and said that she'd been using their shakes. If she loses on WW, some people might join. But Oprah doesn't have the influence with the public she once did. Younger people barely know who she is. It isn't like it was in the 80s/90s, when if Oprah said it was great, everyone ran out to buy it.

    I think the online calorie counting sites are kind of ringing the bell and WW doesn't need to ask for whom it tolls.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    Given her weight issues why would anyone find her a great endorsement?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    It'll be great for WW, as far as how much money they make. She'll probably bring Dr. Fraud, errrrrrrr, Dr. Oz on board and he'll endorse and have them selling all kinds of miracle snake oil "supplements" - none of which do anything but make your wallet lighter. But since millions of women worship at the altar of Oprah and believe everything she says as if it were written on stone tablets and presented by a burning bush, WW's popularity will probably soar.
  • lllooper
    lllooper Posts: 14 Member
    Interesting story and business decision for both WW and Oprah. I think that the weight loss struggle crosses many lines, and Oprah is still looking for the best way to lose and keep off her weight. Of course she can afford a WW coach, but it is what it is. She still inspires people, though her realm of influence has fallen with fewer people watching cable (it seems). I used to enjoy her talk show on network TV, but now I rarely hear about her. So WW will just have to see how this deal plays out for its business. (I just hope WW and Oprah keep Dr. Oz out of this deal!)

    That being said, I'm doing WW now and have had some success. I'm going to keep at it, Oprah or not.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    This is just another "cha ching" for Oprah.. Like she really needs more money.. But this is how she stay rich..

    Smart woman indeed.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    I think Weight Watchers is likely beyond saving. They try to gimmick up a simple concept.

    Oprah might give them a bump, but dieting trends have shifted and keep shifting.

    Just the other day on the news, I saw the first report heralding the return of carbs.
  • coconutty38
    coconutty38 Posts: 1 Member
    Weight Watchers is also about to release a new program in December. That might have something to do with it.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Maybe she can jazz up their horrid advertising campaigns.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,649 Member
    My MIL is on the revolving door WW diet that has her losing & gaining the same pounds for 25 years. I think the stalwart members of WW stay with it no matter what, and Oprah's "magic wand" won't make any difference to them.

    As far as bringing in new members, remains to be seen. Maybe that magic wand aint all it used to be.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    TuffChixRule wrote: »
    What does everyone think about this? Will Oprah be able to help the Weight Watchers brand?

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/10/19/oprah-grabs-a-slice-of-weight-watchers-but-the-diet-giant-might-still-be-doomed/

    I think Oprah may temporarily give a boost to WW, but the bolded below will remain a big concern for them.

    "About 800,000 people last year went to Weight Watchers meetings, and a group nearly twice that size has subscribed to its smorgasbord of online coaching and support.

    But many others have — instead of paying $20 a month, the cheapest non-discounted membership option — instead downloaded an app like MyFitnessPal that can track movement, calories or fitness goals, or paid for a fitness tracker like the FitBit that offers more immediate reassurance at a one-time price."
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    ^Yup. The market's changed. They have to change their business model.

    Offering a gimmicky program using the same old model won't work.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    edited October 2015
    Hershey's own jenny craig./ in one end and out the other..the point is there is money in the weight loss industry and no one knows that better than oprah. its business - not what can she bring to it...its what can she get
    from it. CHA CHING.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Oprah may be looking for a losing proposition, too.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    PeachyCarol wrote: »
    ^Yup. The market's changed. They have to change their business model.

    Offering a gimmicky program using the same old model won't work.

    I agree. Unless they offer more than they do now and get better at helping people in maintenance, they are doomed. No matter if the snag Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as well as Oprah.
  • fawlty70
    fawlty70 Posts: 22 Member
    For all the sites like this one that help people like me use weight, I still think there's a market for WW. I was on it many years ago and it made things simple and it worked. It is more work to count calories than it was to use their tools, although it's getting easier with better databases and better apps.

    I don't know if WW needs to be as widely used as before as long as they can market a premium service to a big enough segment of the population.

    Whether Oprah will boost it or not is anyone's guess, but as someone mentioned above, she is not the marketing powerhouse she used to be. Most people growing up now have probably never seen any of her TV shows.
  • Dootzy1
    Dootzy1 Posts: 2,357 Member
    edited October 2015
    So, she is feeling better, and it has motivated her to make healthy changes, more power to her. I hope it turns out to help her make lasting changes. Of course, that is all on HER, and whether or not she stays with it!!! I just think that the level of commitment increases for some people, if they are putting money into a "program". I was a member many years ago, on one of their older programs. I liked it. I didn't like spending the money, though! When the rate of loss tapered off, I just didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth!!! :/
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,246 Member
    I've watched Oprah gain, lose, gain and lose the same weight many times over the years while doing her talk show. Each time she touted the benefits of the latest weight loss trend, only to (obviously) ditch the program and eat her way back up to an unhealthy weight yet again. While I can completely identify with this yo-yo dieting pattern, I believe this is just the latest in her string of weight loss attempts while also increasing her bottom line. A win-win in her book. I'm sure her $43 million investment in the company will boost WW membership for awhile, as it has already boosted their stock market share just since the announcement.

    My personal experience with WW was a complete bust. I did it for a few months, paying for the online membership and also going to meetings. They sell a lot of "companion" products and I bought into a few of them. Just when I got the hang of the point system, they go changing it to Points-Plus so now all my helper materials and calculators are obsolete?? I was also hungry most of the time on WW and that made me annoyed with other friends doing it who got more "points" than me. I guess WW made me more "hangry" than anything.

    I've done much better, and am much happier, on MFP for free!
  • blkandwhite77
    blkandwhite77 Posts: 281 Member
    WW worked well for me at first. I lost 65lbs but then I stalled. Nothing for months so I hopped over here and down almost 6 lbs in 3 weeks. I noticed I was eating WAY more on WW. Liking this app better than WW by far but I owe WW for the 65lb start.

    Have to say about the Oprah thing it make me not want to use WW. I can't handle her over inflated self importance. I really don't care about her opinion and she thinks it's the best darn opinion in the world.


    Of course I haven't had chocolate today so maybe I'm just grumpy
  • KingsGirl4
    KingsGirl4 Posts: 152 Member
    edited January 2016
    So now that the commercials are out, thoughts??? I'm kinda disappointed.

    http://www.ispot.tv/share/AZ9L
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited January 2016
    TuffChixRule wrote: »
    What does everyone think about this? Will Oprah be able to help the Weight Watchers brand?

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/10/19/oprah-grabs-a-slice-of-weight-watchers-but-the-diet-giant-might-still-be-doomed/

    I bet she will. I saw her WW commercial. Its classy. Classy is good.

    However, WW needs a major overhaul. Having gone low fat and low carb on their latest change, they took it away from what people want now. They also need more support for online only members.
  • echmain
    echmain Posts: 103 Member
    Oprah only helps Oprah.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I hope she can teach them to spell "lose". The closed captioning on all the Oprah WW commercials spells it "loose". Makes me cringe every time.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
    I don't know itf she should be a spokesperson. She has yo-yo'd so much in her life, how can anyone take her seriously?
  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Given her weight issues why would anyone find her a great endorsement?

    Agreed. She is one of the last people I'd follow in terms of a weight loss solution. She's been yo-yo'ing since the late 80's.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,649 Member
    echmain wrote: »
    Oprah only helps Oprah.

    Love it!

  • toe1226
    toe1226 Posts: 249 Member
    I do not appreciate the commodification of health or weight loss. I think it is unfortunate that a woman with so much money who is supposed to empower women is investing her money, in order to make more money, off of women who think they need to spend money to change their health. I've always been very pro-Oprah, but this really soured me.
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    The question is not wheter Oprah can help weight watchers but rather can weight watchers help Oprah to finally get a handle on her weight?
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