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Hmmm…. Good question. According to most definitions this ad does qualify: A shirtless hunk, clad in tight-fitting jeans, displaying his well-defined abdomen. Such descriptions fit the slew of male models sprinkled within the pages of fashion magazines. But those models are at least 40 years younger than the one in the accompanying ad.
The ad touts Cenegenics, a multifaceted weight-loss program, with before-and-after pics of Dr. Jeffry Life, a 67-year-old physician. Readers are naturally drawn to the good doctor’s physique, but the incongruence between mug and body maintain attention as viewers deal with the visual distortion. Nothing against older men, but when was the chiseled chest of a silver-haired senior last used to sell anything? Anticipating this response, the ad explicitly states: "This photo is not digitally enhanced."
Like most weight-loss ads, the slenderized "after" pics are designed to evoke envy as opposed to lust. Judging by the media placement (USA Today, flight magazines), the appeal is to busy men who reflect "before" pics but imagine their own mugs atop Jeffry Life’s abdomen.
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