History of the Slim Fast Diet
When S. Daniel Abraham considered diversifying his product lines as the head of the Thompson Medical Corporation in 1976, he was willing to take severe financial and marketing risks in his pursuit of a place in the lucrative weight-loss product industry. His thought processes were not new; he had been around during the era of Mead-Johnson's Metrecal, a liquid replacement meal that hit grocery store shelves in the late 1950s but received only a modest reception. An astute businessman, Abraham believed that the reason Metrecal didn't become a success had to do with timing. In the 1950s, being thin wasn't as important as it is now. Abraham possessed the vision, money, position and power to test a rejuvenated liquid weight loss concept. He build a remarkable marketing program around Slim-Fast that hung on the slogan: "All that's required are two shakes and a sensible dinner."
Medicine meets marketing
To produce a product that would be simple to use and easy to follow, Abraham turned to a medical colleague at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the formulation. Abraham explained his mission and in a short period, a cocktail of 24 vitamins, minerals and filler morphed into milkshakes that were flavored to taste like ice cream. The packaging was hot red with images of the frosty shake boldly displayed on cans and powdered mixes. The marketing message hit all the right notes. Slim-Fast hit market shelves and it wasn't long before public enthusiasm equaled that of the product's developers.
Slim-Fast survives a big crisis
Slim-Fast sales performed beyond company forecasts after a high-profile debut. But an assault on Slim-Fast was about to erupt in the form of what first appeared to be a competitor. The new liquid diet plan positioned itself as a better alternative to Slim-Fast because it had a protein base. When the protein shakes proved fatal for 59 dieters, the entire liquid meal replacement industry was rocked to its core. Sales fell and Slim-Fast suffered as well, but over time, consumer education and a corporate public relations effort helped differentiate the protein-based plan from Slim-Fast. Unshaken by the notoriety, Slim-Fast reappeared on shelves once more and has continued to reinvent itself over time, emerging a stronger brand than ever before.
How the Slim-Fast program works
Here is the basic premise of Slim-Fast: Drink a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch and then sit down to a healthy evening meal. Celebrity spokespeople, such as Kathy Lee Gifford, drove the ad campaign by talking about her weight loss thanks to the Slim-Fast shake regimen. When a dieter chooses to start the plan, she must purchase the shakes and nutrition bars manufactured and sold by the corporation. It's strongly suggested that the evening meal be nutritious and wholesome because the shakes offer some nutrient value but require slimming meals to boost the effects of the vitamins, minerals and flavorings in the shakes. The Slim-Fast calorie count ranges from 180 for the sugar-free Optima version to 250 calories (different formulations plus the addition of milk to the powdered version account for the range) and the remainder of the day's calories -- 800 -- are to be eaten during a third meal.
Where Slim-Fast fits in today's weight loss product community
Originally touted as the only plan one needs to get rid of unwanted fat, the 21st century version of the Slim-Fast plan has made the brand something of a maverick. As an integral part of the $10 billion spent annually by consumers on diet products and aids, Slim-Fast fits into a sub-category of drinks and powders that generate, on average, about $150 million a year. Competing for dieter's dollars and taking the idea of pre-packaged meals one step further, companies like Jenny Craig and NutriSystem are the biggest names in print and broadcast. That said, Slim-Fast has held its own over time, continuing to use celebrity endorsements to promote the 33-year-old philosophy: all it takes is two shakes and a meal to lose weight for good.
The future of Slim-Fast
Ever adaptive to the changing mood of a dieting public, Slim-Fast developers are finding ways to maintain its market position and its slogan. Slim-Fast is regularly positioned as the ideal partner to other eating plans. According to research conducted by Weight Watcher's International (now owned by Heinz), followers of its program regularly count among their allocated points a can or two of Slim-Fast in their daily allocation of food. To stay in the black, Slim-Fast introduced the Optima program, a sugar-free version of the original formulation and to hedge bets against future drops in sales, its parent company, Thompson, is diversifying into sleeping remedies and birth control. That said, the brand is still making its presence felt with such promotions as a book fronted by model Lauren Hutton called Slim Fast Body Mind Life Makeover. She promotes Slim-Fast as an integral part of her daily stay-slim regimen.
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