Speech on anorexia - Essay Example

Whatever the influence, it is clear that Anorexia can be influenced by external forces and these forces must be addressed immediately in order to create a healthier citizen population. Contemporary marketing theory generally describes the utilisation of celebrity endorsements as a means to build consumer loyalty towards a particular product. Advertisements often display well-known celebrity women, fitting the generic female stereotype for beauty and fitness, as a means to create connection between the company’s brand and the end consumer.

However, women in today’s society maintain a wide variety of different body types with only a handful of these consumers fitting the body profile of the proverbial Size Zero celebrity or model endorsement. In this situation, marketing efforts create a disconnect between healthy body image and personal self-esteem. The citizen (or the consumer) witnesses advertisements which illustrate the corporate viewpoint of body perfection, making the everyday woman feel both inferior to the celebrity being illustrated and that they are somehow abnormal.

Oftentimes, this feeling of inferiority leads to radical changes in eating habits to avoid simply getting fat (or to try to mimic the body type of the celebrity). Over time, this methodology becomes an everyday part of life, becoming an obsession, leading to chronic health problems caused from malnutrition. From a marketing and media perspective, clearly if advertising and promotional literature maintains the ability to impact citizens negatively and develop Anorexia where none previously existed, there needs to be changes to the current marketing philosophy utilised by a wide variety of companies today.

Without the necessary social programmes in place to combat negative media influence on eating disorders, the only viable option is to change the method by which advertisers try to create connection with its consumers. Additionally, outside of media influence, peer pressure often