Fw: NYTimes.com Article: Breast Enlargement Ads Mostly Rejected

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Breast Enlargement Ads Mostly Rejected

>

> BY ALEX KUCZYNSKI

>

> In the pages of the fall 2001 issue of Teen Vogue, a publication

> from Condé Nast aimed at preteenage and early-teenage girls,

> back-to-school fashion spreads and a boy-band interview mix with

> advertisements for Skechers sneakers, Neutrogena acne cream and

> L'Oréal lip gloss.

>

>

> There is also a first for the magazine: a full-page advertisement

> for Bloussant Breast Enhancement Tablets features a young woman in

> a bathing suit, her hair wind-tossed and her cleavage prominent.

> The manufacturer, WellQuest International, describes the herbal

> potpourri in the ad copy as a " less invasive alternative to

> cosmetic surgery " which will endow Bloussant customers with

> " increased cleavage, firmness and fullness. " Testimonials in the ad

> cite the valuable rise in self-esteem and confidence that came with

> larger breasts.

>

>

> Seventeen's September issue has a one- quarter page ad for

> Bloussant tablets on Page 331. It is at least the third ad for for

> the product the last two years, said Maguire, the

> Seventeen spokeswoman.

>

>

> Self-esteem and confidence are, of course, important issues for a

> magazine aimed at teenage girls. But the question of whether bigger

> breasts will make a teenager or preteenager more confident, and the

> propriety of running such an advertisement in a magazine catering

> to a young audience has been cause for debate among the editors and

> publishers of magazines for teenagers.

>

>

> After all, teenage girls are old enough to know the difference

> between advertising and editorial content, some magazine executives

> argue. On the other hand, others say that the advertised suggestion

> that bigger breasts are an important component of beauty is

> objectionable for a young, sometimes impressionable, audience. And

> as the marketplace for these magazines expands and the teenage

> population grows, the issue could evolve into a debate about

> sensitivity in the magazine industry at a time when it is suffering

> a drought of advertising.

>

>

> In Teen Vogue, the Bloussant ad is given premium placement,

> appearing in the first half of the magazine, considered valuable

> real estate for advertisers because readers pay closer attention to

> ads near the front of the magazine. Typically, in the rare cases

> that teenage magazines have accepted such advertising, the ads have

> run small and toward the back.

>

>

> Almost all the major magazines aimed at teenage girls do not

> accept ads for breast-enhancement pills because, their publishers

> and editors said last week, they do not want to encourage young

> women to feel that breast size is linked to beauty or self- esteem.

>

>

> YM, published by Gruner & Jahr, has run occasional quarter-page

> ads for breast-enhancement tablets in the past, but the new editor,

> Annemarie Iverson, and publisher, McEwen, who both came

> aboard last year, decided to refuse the ads. CosmoGirl, published

> by Hearst Magazines, also rejects the ads, as does Elle Girl, of

> Hachette Filipacchi, which will introduce its first issue next

> month. Teen Magazine, published by EMAP USA, a division of Primedia

> (news/quote), also refuses to run the ads.

>

>

> Lynn Lehmkuhl, the president of Teen Magazine, said that under her

> authority Teen would never accept ads for breast-enhancement

> products.

>

>

> " I know I would reject that Bloussant ad, and I hope that everyone

> else would too, " she said. " Teen Vogue's staff is not immersed in

> knowledge of the teen market, and I don't think they are yet

> cognizant of the responsibility they have to the teen audience. "

>

>

> Elle Girl, which arrives on newsstands next month, refused the

> Bloussant ad during the summer. Mason, the publisher, said

> that the magazine's editor in chief, Holley, was especially

> repulsed by it.

>

>

> " She felt it was fiercely antithetical to the philosophy of the

> magazine, and so did I, " Ms. Mason said. " is all about

> celebrating your independence, your individual style, and we felt

> that the message in that ad was, `You are clearly not perfect the

> way you are.' It's not an offensive ad, but we just don't think

> it's right for teenagers. "

>

>

> Amy Astley, the editor of Teen Vogue, said that she was confident

> her readers know that an advertisement is not an endorsement by the

> editors.

>

>

> " I am personally committed to having Teen Vogue promote images of

> health and well-being for our readers, " she said. " I would like to

> emphasize that this is advertising and not editorial. "

>

>

> Ms. Astley says she does not consult with the publishing side to

> determine which ads are appropriate for the magazine. Asked if she

> would mind having the Bloussant ad appear in Teen Vogue again, she

> said: " I would prefer if it did not. "

>

>

> Teen Vogue's publisher, D. Beckman, declined to

> comment.

>

>

> Apart from the propriety of placing the ads, there is little

> evidence to suggest that the tablets - which cost $229.95 for an

> eight-week supply, according to the WellQuest Web site - actually

> achieve what the ad promises. A call to a WellQuest spokesman,

> Ackerman, was not returned.

>

>

> While over-the-counter drugs are subject to Food and Drug

> Administration regulation, herbal supplements are essentially

> unregulated, assumed safe unless proved otherwise. But the effects

> of the herbal combinations that make up many supplements have not

> been studied.

>

> Bloussant Breast Enhancement Tablets consist of four herbal

> ingredients: don quai, black cohash, fennel seed and saw palmetto.

> According to a spokeswoman for the F.D.A., the agency has not

> received complaints about the Bloussant tablets.

>

>

> But Dr. Bill Gurley, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the

> University of Arkansas College of Pharmacy and the author of

> several studies on herbal remedies, said that the tablets pose a

> potentially serious threat of drug interaction. The herbal

> concoction could have adverse side effects when taken with other

> medications a teenager might be taking, like antihistamines or

> birth control pills, and lessen or intensify the efficacy of the

> prescribed drugs.

>

>

> " And on top of that, I would say that the possibility they

> increase breast size is slim to none, " he said. " The likelihood

> that you're going to go from an A to a C or D is remote. And with

> young girls, body image is a big deal and they fall prey to some of

> that stuff. "

>

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/13/business/13TEEN.html?ex=998889130 & ei=1 & en=

8f00a7d0fa59c0b8

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