Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Making it JUICY!

Last weekend, I was driving to church with my daughters and had my radio tuned in to a local FM station.  A commercial break came on, and my attention was captivated by an ad for – of all things – a sandwich.  It featured a woman trying to tempt a man to abandon his willpower and give in to the pleasure of eating this particular item that apparently wasn’t on his nutrition plan.  The language that she used to describe this creation evoked such sensual images that it could have made a sailor blush!

This got me to thinking about all the ways that our popular culture pulls people in unhealthy directions.  Imagine all the money that is being invested in getting us to work harder, be sedentary, eat poorly, and numb ourselves with all manner of distractions!

What if we were promoting health with just as much intensity?  What would that look like?   Do you remember that famous scene from “When Harry Met Sally?”  You know – the one where Meg Ryan captivates everyone’s attention with her enraptured “Yes, YES, YES!!!!  That’s what I’m imagining.  What if we could inspire others to say: “I’ll have what she’s having!”?

Now, one thing you should know about me is that I am easily amused by words.  With a English teacher for a mom and a pastor for a father, I suppose this is no accident!  So, I decided that this could be fun challenge…

Here’s my first attempt: 

“Don’t wait another minute!  Optimal Health is the delicious creation that you’ve been dreaming of.  Once you see it, you’ll be longing to taste the juicy sweetness of each delicious moment.  As you enjoy bite after bite of a life that is drenched with joy and oozing vitality, you won’t want to stop!  Let your imagination run wild and experience the rich pleasure of extreme well-being.  You were made for this!”

Do you want to play?  Just for fun, I’d love to see what juicy advertisements that you can create to promote the idea of optimal health.  (Keep it G-rated please!)

You can post your ideas here, or if you want to make it more interesting, I’ve set up a Facebook event that I'm calling "The Juicy Life Challenge".  Just post your “ad” between now and Monday, November 19 (at 5:00 p.m. ET).  Then, please take a look at all the entries and click “like” for the ones that you think are the best!  Whoever gets the most “likes” will win a gift certificate for a 12-week integrative health coaching package.  What a great way to kick off the holidays!

If you don’t want to submit an ad, you’re still invited to participate by voting.

I’m looking forward to hearing what folks come up with.  This will be juicy!

4 comments:

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    1. Thanks, sweetie...I'd say you're a little biased ;-)

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  2. This is awesome! Love your ad! Health ads are few and far between and the ones that are out there only promote weight loss which gives people a short term goal and most are still not teaching the importance of optimal health and proper nutrition as you lose the weight. Even when fast food and others say "healthy" they really mean a little bit better than the other stuff we have but still bad for your body with little nutritional value. I think of McDonald's changing the happy meal and now the kids no longer get the caramel sauce with the apples, the apples are smaller and 1/2 of what they used to get and now the small fries come with it. Not that we go there often because I thinks it's the worst thing you can ever eat and makes my kids nuts but how are fries and less apples healthier than when my kids just got the apples with no fries (they rarely used the caramel either)?? What health challenged individual pushed that "brilliant" plan through?

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    1. Thanks, Kristal. The other thing that I notice about the health-related ads you mention is that most of them aren't really selling health -- they are selling appearance or social acceptance (how you'll look in your clothes, how you'll be more comfortable when you're the "right" weight). I say that when we are focused on creating vibrant well-being, everything else falls into place.

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