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Joseph McGill
Dr. McLaughlin
Writing and Rhetoric 13300
3 April 2015
Is the Risk Greater Than the Reward? : A Formal Analysis of the Medias
Impact on Supplemental Engagement in the Fit Community
According to a 1999 magazine issue from Consumer Reports, the
fitness supplements and steroids that exist on todays market have long term
side effects which include but are not limited to: hair loss, dizziness, mood
swings, paranoia, delusions, high blood pressure, increased risk of heart
disease, stroke, and cancer (Sports-Supplement Dangers 40-42). If this is
true, then why are the 1.2 million who use the products regularly in
America continuing to use and increasing their risk for potential danger
(Sports-Supplement Dangers 40)? Many will say that their desire to use the
supplements stems from their wish to change their body image; however
some might wonder where this motivation to change comes from. A variety
of studies have been done in recent years, which aim to discover why people
are choosing to use sports supplements despite the negative consequences.
The results from these studies reveal a direct correlation between exposures
to appearance focused media and supplemental usage. So what is it about
the way that this media is presented that causes people to view these
supplements as a must have? Typically, the most influential types of
appearance focused media come in the form of an advertisement and

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contain a surplus of qualities that marketers use in order to help them appeal
to different groups of people and increase their chances for sales. In order to
better understand the direct correlation that media has with peoples desire
to buy and consume sports supplements, this paper will attempt to analyze
how and why different form of technological communication tend to attract
buyers so intensely despite the potential dangers associated with the
products. With this analysis, it will be possible to draw conclusions about the
power of the medias influence and look at what kind of result it has on the
fitness population.
Fitness supplements are a sub-class of dietary supplements that are
used by weight lifters and athletes in order to directly affect the bodys
response to specific types of exercise. These products are filled with a variety
of substances whose purpose is to alter the amounts of certain chemicals,
such as testosterone, present in the human body. A 1999 magazine issue
from Consumer Reports includes an article entitled "Sports-Supplement
Dangers" which gives an overview of sports supplements and their potential
hazards. The article states that millions of people take fitness supplements
because they are hoping that the pills, drinks, and powders would help
them bulk up, slim down, or compete more effectively (Sports-Supplement
Dangers 40). What a significant number of people are not realizing when
they take the supplements is that there are thousands of negative side
affects which are direct results from these products. So the question remains

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what is it about the media that causes people to choose to start taking these
products in the first place?
In order to comprehend why the response to fitness-based media is so
noteworthy, it is important for one to first understand how the supplemental
industries attempt to reach their customers. A book was written by the
Federal Trade Commission called Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide
for Industry to serve as both a guide and a set of rules that producers must
follow when crafting an advertisement. The book comments on the
importance that disclosures be both direct and unambiguous to be
effective (Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry 7).
Generating an ad with heightened clarity helps a viewer to believe that they
are getting the most concise and consistent information. This allows viewers
to concentrate on the overall purpose of the substance rather than question
the transparency of the product. With a consumers attention directed at the
impact that a certain supplement can have on things like their muscle tone
and weight lifting maxes, companies are able to lure millions of people into
buying and consuming their product despite the side effects that might
occur. In addition to clarity, another aspect of advertising that the guide
focuses on is the priority that supplemental industries must put on
advertising with mass media. Mass media gives the ad-makers a chance to
appeal to a very large and diverse population, which therefore increases the
chance that people who are in a position to buy a supplement will see the ad.
According to the Sports-Supplement Dangers" article, sports nutrition ads

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will appeal to anyone seeking energy improvement like a women who
wants to tone her body and lose a few pounds, or a person who rides a bike
and wants to perform like an athlete (Sports-Supplement Dangers 40). An
increase in audience means an increase in bike riders looking for that extra
edge and therefore an increase in profits for the dietary supplement creators.
While mass media gives producers an opportunity to reach out to
millions of people at once, it is important to understand which types of
people are generally being targeted by mass media the most and why. This
allows for a better understanding of the relevant variables that are
contributing to supplemental engagement. Throughout recent years, a
variety of studies have been performed in order to pinpoint the exact groups
that elicit the biggest responses to fitness-based media. In the book, When
Winning Costs Too Much: Steroids, Supplements, and Scandal in Today's
Sports, John McCloskey and Julian Bailes give an in depth analysis of the
dangers associated with steroid and supplemental usage in athletes
specifically. One segment of the book looks at the motivations to use and
states that the number one reason that student athletes decide to use
supplements is because they believe the advertisements and marketing
(McCloskey and Bailes 104). Athletes are constantly focusing on being the
best that they can be and doing whatever they can to get the edge on their
opponents. This is the exact reason why they are everything but hesitant to
accept an offer for improvement. It is also important to note how great of an
impact media has on athletes compared to other sources of information. In

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Kristin Wiens, Kelly Anne Erdman, Megan Stadnyk, and Jill A. Parnells article,
Dietary Supplement Usage, Motivation, And Education In Young Canadian
Athletes, a statistical analysis is performed based on a questionnaire that
was administered to 567 athletes between the ages of 11 and 25. The results
from the survey reveal that despite 48% of athletes having met with a
dietitian, an astounding 87.1% of the total people surveyed reported that
the media was their primary source of information (Wiens et al 613).
One might question why the media has such a profound impact on
peoples ideals when compared to other sources of information such as
friends, family, and dieticians. In a journal article entitled "Mags And Abs:
Media Consumption And Bodily Concerns In Men, Ida Jodette Hatoum and
Deborah Belle offer some interesting insight. The article analyzes a survey
performed on 89 college men with diverse backgrounds who were exposed
to male-directed magazines which are associated with concerns about
muscularity, general fitness, beauty product use, and dietary supplement
use to build muscle (Hatoum 397). The results of the study show how great
of an impact these appearance focused magazines indeed have on males
perception of their bodies. The discussion in the article reveals that despite
the fact that 65.1% of the men in the sample were within their normal weight
for height range (BMI), 80.9% desired to be a weight different than their
own after being subject to the fore mentioned magazines (402). A similar
survey was conducted on teenagers in Belgium and analyzed in Eline Frison,
Laura Vandenbosch, and Steven Eggermonts article, Exposure To Media

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Predicts Use Of Dietary Supplements And Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids
Among Flemish Adolescent Boys. The difference with this survey was that
the types of media processed by the test subjects were varied to see what
appealed to adolescents the most. The conclusions revealed that intent to
use anabolic-androgenic steroids was associated with exposure to fitness
media and appearance-focused media while sports media did not correlate
with the use of dietary supplements and intent to use anabolic-androgenic
steroids (Frison and Vandenbosch and Eggermont 1387). Since ad producers
know that humans are psychologically drawn toward beauty and being more
attractive, they portray models with ideal features which can consist of many
characteristics such as bulging veins or a brand new tan. These depictions
ultimately cause the viewers to desire the same qualities that the models in
the advertisements have, which therefore stimulates an urge to buy the
product being offered. This tactic reveals how considerably the portrayal of
the perfect body image can hypnotize people and cause them to engage in
activity that is detrimental to their health. It is this psychological aspect of
media that earns the supplement producers their profits as well as corrupts
our fitness population.
Another significant marketing technique that producers take advantage
of is the use of celebrity figures to help endorse their product. This can come
both directly and indirectly, however the outcome is substantial regardless.
McCloskey and Bailes discuss one such instance that had a significant impact
on millions of people. They bring to light the fact that in recent years, fitness

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supplements have become the fastest-growing segment of the supplement
industry, thanks in part to Mark McGwires use of Andro resulting in the
subsequent explosion of its use among young athletes (107). While Mark
McGwire never openly validated the use of this harmful substance,
Androstenedione, the widespread media coverage propelled his story into
households across the nation and people everywhere understood why he was
so successful. Sports-Supplement Danger quotes a 14-year-old boys
response to this incident in which he claims the first time I ever heard of
these supplements was on TV, when Mark McGuire broke the home run
record; soon after, I heard kids in school talking about it, wondering whether
they should take them (41). Celebrities across the globe have a certain
ambiance associated with them that causes people look up to them and see
them as role models. Whether its a commercial or a case similar to Mark
McGwires, individuals are going to have an instant fascination with whatever
product is being promoted due to the success that they associate with
celebrities. The natural attraction that people have toward famous people
not only makes them more likely to consume the product, but also distracts
them from the potential negative consequences that these supplements can
produce. It is only through accurate and established sources, that somebody
can make a logical decision regarding the use of fitness supplements. This
key element seems to be missing for a vast majority of people today,
especially in the youth population.

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While many might argue that increased supplemental usage in
adolescents could easily be attributed to their heightened lack of awareness
regarding the health concerns related to the products, a greater predictor of
their remarkable engagement is their distinctive response to specific media.
All three of the surveys analyzed earlier indicated results which exhibit a
substantial difference between youth and adults reaction to supplementbased media. While this may be in part due to the increased number of
athletes that the youth population includes relative to the age, the main
driving force causing youth to respond so significantly is their tendency to be
over-concerned with their appearance. Frison Eggermont and Vandenbosch
remark in their article that appearance worries and related appearance
modification behaviors, such as power lifting and the use of beauty products,
have been found to be part of modern young men's lives (1391). Everyday,
teenagers across the nation are going out of their way to go on diets, lift
weights, and exercise more, simply because it is human nature to desire a
more attractive physique. Most young people look for every opportunity that
they can get to make their body image more appealing, which ultimately
makes them much more vulnerable when viewing fitness media due to our
developed cultural tendency to associate a fit body with attractiveness. In
addition to this, adolescents are frequently the subjects of peer pressure,
causing them to engage merely because listening to these ads has become
the cool thing, the trendy thing to do (McCloskey and Bailes 108). A similar
phenomenon is often observed when studying the motives that drive

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teenagers to start abusing drugs and alcohol at an early age. History has
revealed that adolescents tend to be less concerned with the negative health
aspects associated with the substances and more focused on what the
products can do to benefit their status and image. Therefore, while the
heightened lack of awareness in teens is a contributing factor to their
decision to use sports supplements, the media can be seen as a greater
driving force, which takes advantage of young, developing brains in order to
make supplements a must have. This tendency for adolescents to respond to
the media that endorses the supplements is increasing ever so dramatically
in todays world, which is a disturbing thought considering the fact that they
are shaping the future of the fitness community.
With the media influencing so many people on a daily basis, it is
reasonable for one to ask how this is contributing to the negative
development of the fitness population. After all, the media may be leading to
a greater population of supplemental users, but who is to say that the
supplements cannot be controlled and made safer. The author from the
Consumer Reports article believes that the legal system is the primary issue
since any dietary supplement can be marketed without advance testing
under current federal law (41). This is a very alarming precedent
considering how easy it is for companies to take advantage of the media in
order to promote engagement. With the thousands of harmful supplements
on the market today, one can only attempt to pinpoint the exact ones that
should be prohibited. This allows for a surplus of destructive fitness products

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on the shelf as well as media-ads that use deceitful strategies in order to
target consumers. This broadcasting not only contributes to the increased
use of substances like creatine and ephedra (known to cause severe
exacerbation of the kidneys), but it also has a demoralizing effect on
individuals that stems from the portrayal of models with picture-perfect
bodies. The viewers of these ads are nearly always left feeling insignificant
and unconfident in their personal physique because of the ability that the
media possesses to lower ones self esteem. With these ads appearing in
magazines and on television daily, one can only imagine how significant of
an impact they have on the development of todays society.
Living in a current world that puts so much emphasis on body image
and attractiveness is causing an upsurge in the number of people who are
obsessed with improving their appearance. While in the past, a majority of
people would do it the old fashioned way and intensify their workout
patterns, todays culture is turning to alternative strategies by using
synthetic bodybuilding supplements to assist in whatever bodily change they
desire. These types of supplements were widely unheard of until recent
years, largely because todays technology has the capability to market them
to the public eye more efficiently. With appearance based media
surrounding modern communities on a regular basis, a wide range of
individuals are given the opportunity to respond and consider the benefits of
such a product, given their current physical build. Human nature reveals that
more often than not, people will give into the ads and consume these dietary

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supplements due to their lack of confidence in their own physical build and
their psychological tendency to correlate attractiveness with a fit body. While
many times the supplement being consumed results in side effects that are
detrimental to ones health, the so-called perfect model that is seen
endorsing the product ultimately consumes the buyers attention and points
their focus toward the optimizing results that the body building supplement
offers rather than the dangers accompanying the substance. With the
production of these potentially unsafe drugs accelerating at such a rapid
pace along with the developing technology that is making it easier for the
media to draw in certain groups of people, one can only imagine where the
future of our fitness population is headed. So what is the key to stopping this
corruption? One might say that there is no stopping it, however Consumer
Reports thinks the simple solution is to use the very same methods that are
leading to the downfall. Utilizing multi-media to broadcast why certain
harmful supplements are unworthy of our time and money will not only
frighten people away from choosing these products, it will also make them
more inclined to use natural, healthier mechanisms to improve their body
image. This proposal alone reveals how astonishing the capabilities of the
media have become today; with the opportunity to fill peoples minds with
such a large variety of ideals and incentives, one can only hope that
producers will use it for our benefit rather than the peculiar case involving
fitness supplements.

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Works Cited
Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry. Washington, D.C.:
Federal Trade

Commission, 2001. Web.

Frison, Eline Vandenbosch, Laura Eggermont, Steven. "Exposure To Media

Predicts Use Of

Dietary Supplements And Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids

Among Flemish Adolescent

Boys." European Journal Of Pediatrics 172.10

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(2013): 1387-1392. Biomedical

Reference Collection: Basic. Web. 16 Mar.

2015.
Hatoum, Ida Jodette, and Deborah Belle. "Mags And Abs: Media Consumption
And Bodily Concerns In Men." Sex Roles 51.7/8 (2004): 397-407. Education
Full Text (H.W.

Wilson). Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

McCloskey, John, and Julian E. Bailes. When Winning Costs Too Much:
Steroids, Supplements, and Scandal in Today's Sports. Lanham, MD: Taylor
Trade Pub., 2005. Print.
"Sports-Supplement Dangers." Consumer Reports 66.6 (2001): 40.
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Web. 22 Mar. 2015.

Wiens, Kristin, et al. "Dietary Supplement Usage, Motivation, And Education

In Young

Canadian Athletes." International Journal Of Sport Nutrition &

Exercise Metabolism
Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

24.6 (2014): 613-622. SPORTDiscus with Full Text.