Americans Place Too Much Empasis On Physical Appearance

Americans place to much emphasis on physical appearance

In recent years, Americans have become obsessed with their appearance. Millions of dollars are spent each year on superficial items, such as cosmetics, weight loss programs, and designer wear. There are newspaper ads, television commericials, and magazine advertisements that are in place to entice consumers. Consequently, Americans have fallen victims to the many pressures of being fashionable, thin, and beautiful.

In addition, fashion companies attract the attention of approximately 70 million American young people know as generation y. Trendy urban clothing lines, in fact Fubu, Sean John, and Phat Farm which has an average purchase cost of $75 per item. Generation x, roughly 45 million people born between 1965 and 1978, in fact estimates are that this newest group of consumers already has about $150 billion to $250 billion in spending power each year with almost a third of the devoted to clothing. Retailers are developing more products to appeal generation x the biggest group since the baby boomers.

Moreover, consumers spent about $35 billion dollars in 2000 on weight loss products ranging from books, videos, drug, and diet foods. There were 300 weight loss advertisements that ran during 2001. Many of these ads are taken from: television, radio, internet , newspapers, magazines, email, and direct mail. A weight loss program, for instance Jenny Craig advertises for $20 a month that you can loose a pound a week. There are advertisements for electronic exercise belts, which promise to reduce your abs while you sleep. There is a miracle pill advertised that will lead to instant weight loss. American has been lead to believe only thin people are accepted in today's society.

Finally, consumers spend 1.45 billion dollars on personal care items and cosmetics each year. Many consumers, baby boomers in particular are willing to spend additional