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Sunday, October 30, 2011
PeninsulaNation
Peninsula Daily News
Beauty industry takes aim at men Products from diets to girdles get macho spin By Mae Anderson
larly and uses hair pomade. “Guys worry more about their appearance than they NEW YORK — Every- used to.” one wants flawless skin, flat abs and a fab rear, but men ‘Need’ to do it don’t always admit it. Fashion and pop culture So, companies that sell products promising to help have a lot to do with the guys lose weight, conceal change. The ultra-slim silhouette bloat and enhance skin have to walk a fine line and skinny jeans that hit between men’s vanity and the high-fashion world several years ago have infilmasculinity. But how do you market trated men’s departments moisturizer to the Marlboro in mainstream stores like Banana Republic and Old Man? Dove plays the theme Navy. And because of social song to the 1930s TV western “The Lone Ranger” and media websites like Facecompares guys’ skin with book and Twitter, men concowhide in commercials for stantly are confronted with photos of fit male celebs like its men’s shower gel. Weight Watchers uses singer Justin Timberlake TV spots with trimmed- and actor Will Smith. The U.S. economic downdown singer Jennifer Hudson to market to women but turn even plays a role. With unemployment opts for average Joes talking about drinking beer and around 9 percent, men lookgrilling meat in ads for its ing for a job have to make weight loss program for sure their look is as polished as their resume. men. “The better you look, the Dr Pepper is more overt in ads for its diet soda tar- more you’re going to earn,” geted toward men with the said Deborah Mitchell, tagline: “It’s not for women.” executive director for the The ads come as guys of Center for Brand and Prodall ages are succumbing to uct Management at the growing pressure to suck in University of Wisconsin their guts and hide their School of Business. “Men are increasingly blemishes. In one of the biggest thinking ‘Wow, I need to signs that men are more look good or look young.’” That doesn’t mean men image-conscious, the number of chemical peels, laser want the whole world to hair removal and other cos- know. Dove officials had that in metic procedures on men is up 45 percent since 2000, mind when they launched a according to the American line of shower gels for men. The brand, a unit of UniSociety of Plastic Surgeons. “Back in the day, guys lever, had been synonymous cared more about working with women since the hard and providing than 1950s. But when Dove rolled having a hairy chest or a beer belly,” said Brian out the Men+Care line of McCarthy, 32, a Philadel- lighter-scented shower gels, phian who works out regu- it used a more “manly”
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
This screen shot provided by Weight Watchers Online shows a recent advertisement for men. approach to marketing. The “Manthem,” which was launched during the Super Bowl in 2010, showed a man’s journey through life from conception to age 30. In another ad, the theme music for “The Lone Ranger” plays as a deep male voice urges men to use Dove shower gel to moisturize their “man hide,” which it says dries out like cowhide. Then, the voiceover implores men to not be bashful: “Be comfortable in your own skin.”
Very successful Rob Candelino, Unilever’s marketing director for personal wash in the U.S., declined to give sales for the Men+Care line but said the campaign has exceeded expectations. Before seeing ads for the Men+Care line, James Harris, 32, wouldn’t dare use
his girlfriend’s Dove soap, but since seeing one of the ads during a Yankees baseball game in April, he has become a loyal user of the brand. “If it’s for men, I’ll use it,” said the student who lives in Birmingham, Ala. “If it’s for women, I won’t.” Weight Watchers found that men respond better to real men — rather than women or celebs — in ads for its weight loss program. In April, it launched its first national campaign targeting men, using ordinary fellas talking about its online “cheat sheets” that give tips on the healthiest ways to enjoy beer and grilled meats. “Losing weight clicked for me when I realized that Weight Watchers online was for guys too. It’s not all rainbows and lollipops,” one man says in the ads. Another recalls his friends teasing him about
being on the program: “I go, ‘Really? I look a lot better than you right now.’” During the first five weeks of the campaign, the percentage of men using Weight Watchers online rose from about 8 percent to 15 percent of all users. The company plans a new campaign early next year. Cheryl Callan, chief marketing officer at Weight Watchers, said you have to market to men and women differently. For example, she says “men will not use the word ‘diet.’”
Men’s girdles Many men also won’t use the word ‘girdle.’ So, Spanx, which sells girdle-like products to slim physiques, made some changes when it launched its men’s line last year. To market its “compression” shirt, which is
designed to make a man’s chest look firmer, the company tweaked its packaging and website. Both feature a macho, superhero-like character named Blake to convey the idea that men can “do anything” and feel “powerful” while wearing Spanx. “Men’s psyches are different than women’s,” says Laurie Ann Goldman, Spanx CEO. “Men want to feel powerful and strong. Women want to feel smart and choice-ful.” As for whether the name is a deterrent for men? Sales of Spanx for Men are about 40 percent better than the company expected, Goldman said, although she declined to give figures. “We found if you could take a couple of inches off a man’s waist and tighten his torso, he would be fine calling it Spanx,” she said.
Voting on conception as the legal start of life Mississippi’s try on anti-abortion is likely to pass By Emily Pettus
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — A national effort to put abortion bans into state constitutions is looking for its first victory next month in Mississippi, where voters are being asked to approve an amendment declaring that life begins when a human egg is fertilized. Supporters hope the socalled personhood initiative will succeed in a Bible Belt state that already has some of the nation’s toughest abortion regulations and only a single clinic where the procedures are performed. The initiative is endorsed by both candidates in a governor’s race that’s being decided the same day. While Mississippi is the only state with such an amendment on the ballot this fall, efforts are under way to put the question to voters in at least four other states in 2012. Any victory at the state level would likely be shortlived since a life-at-fertilization amendment would conflict with the U.S. Constitution. Leaders of the movement said their ultimate
The Associated Press
Susan Hall of Clinton, Miss., and her daughter, Kaycie, 2, attend a Personhood rally at the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on Thursday. goal is to provoke a court fight to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established a legal right to abortion. Opponents said defining life as beginning at fertilization could block some common forms of birth control and deter Mississippi physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they’d fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn’t survive. They also said supporters of the amendment are trying to impose their religious beliefs on others to
force women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest. Those campaigning for the Mississippi initiative — including the Tupelo-based American Family Association — are using glowing images of babies in utero or chubby-cheeked newborns, and said they’re trying to end a sin that blights America.
Divided views The proposal being decided Nov. 8 has divided the medical community and
bewildered some physicians. The Mississippi State Medical Association says it is not supporting the initiative — a step short of actively opposing it. “We feel like the docs and the patients are getting caught in the middle of a war between the anti-abortion folks and the pro-choice folks,” said Dr. Wayne Slocum of Tupelo, head of the Mississippi section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a group that opposes the initiative. George Cochran, a University of Mississippi constitutional law professor, said even if Mississippi voters adopt the initiative, he believes it’s unlikely to ever be enforced because it’s certain to be challenged and overturned in court. “Suits are brought, they have it declared unconstitutional,” Cochran said. “It’s not very difficult.” Cochran said there’s a 5-4 majority on the U.S. Supreme Court now to uphold Roe v. Wade. That and other Supreme Court rulings have required states to allow abortions up to the point that a fetus could survive outside of the womb — approximately 24 weeks. Still, a win at the ballot box “will send shockwaves around this country, then
around the world,” predicted Keith Mason, cofounder of Personhood USA, the Colorado group that’s pushing the petition drives around the country. Mason’s group eventually wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to say life begins at fertilization, and he hopes the push for state constitutional amendments will create momentum. Similar “human life” amendments have been introduced on the federal level repeatedly over the past 30 years and have failed. Thad Hall, a University of Utah professor who has written a book about abortion politics, said people who want to outlaw abortion are seeking state-bystate changes that often put the question to voters, rather than federal changes. “What you see here is a kind of difference between slowness and difficulty in policy changes on federal level . . . and the ease with which states can change public policy,” Hall said.
Other states People are gathering signatures in Florida, Montana, Ohio and Oregon to try to put personhood initiatives on ballots starting in 2012, Mason said. He said similar efforts will begin soon in eight other states.
Personhood Ohio said Friday that it had reached its first threshold toward the 2012 ballot by gathering more than 1,000 signatures, allowing it to start knocking on doors to gather the rest of the 385,000 signatures it needs. Previously, Mason’s group got amendments on Colorado ballots in 2008 and 2010, but they were rejected. Some groups that oppose abortion, including Eagle Forum, opposed the Colorado efforts, saying the ballot initiatives only enriched Planned Parenthood and other groups that support abortion rights. In Mississippi, the state’s largest Christian denomination, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, is backing the personhood proposal through its lobbying arm, the Christian Action Commission. “The Lord expects us to value life, even as he does,” the commission’s executive director, Jimmy Porter, says in a video. The state already has several laws regulating abortions, including parental or judicial consent for any minor to get an abortion and mandatory in-person counseling and a 24-hour wait before any woman can terminate a pregnancy.
Demise of Obama long-term health care plan leaves gap The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — It’s the one major health expense for which nearly all Americans are uninsured. The dilemma of paying for long-term care is likely to worsen now that the Obama administration pulled the plug on a program seen as a first step. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, or CLASS, was included in the health overhaul law to provide basic long-term care insurance at an affordable cost. But financial problems dogged it from the outset. Those concerns prompted the administration to announce this month
that CLASS would not go forward. Yet it could take a decade or longer for lawmakers to tackle the issue again, and by then the retirement of the Baby Boomers will be in full swing. Most families don’t plan for long-term care. Often the need comes unexpectedly: an elder takes a bad fall, a teen is calamitously injured in a car crash or a middle-aged worker suffers a debilitating stroke. Nursing home charges can run more than $200 a day and a home health aide averages $450 a week, usually part-time. Yet Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care, and
only about 3 percent of adults have a private policy. “Long-term care is a critical issue, and people are in total denial about it,” said Bill Novelli, former CEO of AARP. “I am very sorry the administration did what they finally did, although I understand it. It is going to take a long time to get this back — and fixed.”
Risk issues The irony, experts say, is that paying for long-term care is the kind of problem insurance should be able to solve. It has to do with the mathematics of risk. Most drivers will have some kind of accident dur-
ing their years behind the wheel, but few will be involved in a catastrophic wreck. And some very careful drivers will not experience any accidents. The risks of long-term care are not all that different, says economist Harriet Komisar of the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. “A small percentage of people are going to need a year, two years, five years or more in a nursing home, but for those who do, it’s huge,” Komisar said. “Insurance makes sense when the odds are small but the financial risk is potentially high and unaffordable.”
Komisar and her colleagues estimate that nearly 7 in 10 people will need some level of longterm care after turning 65. That’s defined as help with personal tasks such as getting dressed, going to the toilet, eating, or taking a bath. Many of those who need help will get it from a family member. Only 5 percent will need five years or more in a nursing home. And 3 in 10 will not need any long-term care assistance at all. For those who do need extended nursing home care, Medicaid has become the default provider, since Medicare only covers short-
term stays for rehab. But Medicaid is for lowincome people, so the disabled literally have to impoverish themselves to qualify, a wrenching experience for families.
CLASS plan Liberals say the answer is government-sponsored insurance, like the CLASS plan the Obama administration included in the health overhaul law, only to find it wouldn’t work financially. The administration was unable to reconcile twin goals of CLASS — financial solvency and affordable coverage easily accessible to all working adults, regardless of health.