Stepped in a big pile of Facebook UPDATE

[TurtleDove]

And if someone doesn't need to lose weight, or never has, why would they be a target market? 

I completely agree with you in theory, but in reality, the marketing people will blanket target everyone who shows interest in "fitness."  I have no idea what specific products are involved here, but I have never been overweight and have never needed to lose weight....but it is also well known that I enjoy working out.  I have had several aquaintances approach me to either try or hawk their fitness magic pills/whatever.  I didn't and won't, but I certainly never took their "offer" as a statement that I need to lose weight.  I guess if they thought I needed to lose weight in reality I would tell them to pound sand, but I think their thought process was "TurtleDove cares about her fitness/weight - she might be someone who will fall for this!"

I am not :-)  I believe in eating real food and using my body so I don't have any desire for supplements or whatever, but I do believe that the thought process had little to no judgment of my body and more a thought of "TD is more likely to be interested than (whomever) who has shown no interest in fitness ever."

[Virg]

TurtleDove wrote:

"I have had several aquaintances approach me to either try or hawk their fitness magic pills/whatever.  I didn't and won't, but I certainly never took their "offer" as a statement that I need to lose weight.  I guess if they thought I needed to lose weight in reality I would tell them to pound sand, but I think their thought process was "TurtleDove cares about her fitness/weight - she might be someone who will fall for this!""

The disagreement I have with this is really agreement that it's not about the target's need to lose weight.  I suspect the thought process is more along the lines of, "This person has a pulse and can comprehend English, so I'll send them my info because it doesn't cost me anything and I might get rich if I do it enough!"

Mikayla wrote:

"And if someone doesn't need to lose weight, or never has, why would they be a target market?"

Notwithstanding the logic shown above, marketers will often tell you that the person who gets your message might pass it on to someone they know who can use it.  It's a load of Facebook, but the person doing the selling will often be greedy enough that they'll talk themselves into believing it to justify the real reason I discussed above.

Virg

[Yvaine]

It's more like they're just going to blanket market it to everybody. It's not because they think anyone is fat, and it's also not because they know how interested TurtleDove is in fitness. This type of marketing targets everyone who is breathing.

[Twik]

And if someone doesn't need to lose weight, or never has, why would they be a target market?   

They're breathing.

They have money.

Ergo, a target market. 

[Mikayla]

And if someone doesn't need to lose weight, or never has, why would they be a target market?   

They're breathing.

They have money.

Ergo, a target market. 

Oh trust me, I fully get that part.  "Target" may not have been the best adjective, but I can't think of a different one.  For MLM, "target" = enough brain waves to sustain cardiac rhythm.

But I still see a difference between Tupperware and weight loss in terms of the blanket coverage and potential minefields.  Nobody is going to be offended at being given the opportunity to purchase kitchen storage components.  With weight loss, if someone is overweight, or isn't but has struggled with it, the annoyance factor isn't about whether they push it repeatedly.  It's that they mentioned it in the first place.

[Yvaine]

And if someone doesn't need to lose weight, or never has, why would they be a target market?   

They're breathing.

They have money.

Ergo, a target market. 

Oh trust me, I fully get that part.  "Target" may not have been the best adjective, but I can't think of a different one.  For MLM, "target" = enough brain waves to sustain cardiac rhythm.

But I still see a difference between Tupperware and weight loss in terms of the blanket coverage and potential minefields.  Nobody is going to be offended at being given the opportunity to purchase kitchen storage components.  With weight loss, if someone is overweight, or isn't but has struggled with it, the annoyance factor isn't about whether they push it repeatedly.  It's that they mentioned it in the first place.

True. It's a more sensitive issue and so there's more potential to offend. Just know that if it happens to you (general you), it's probably not as personal as it sounds--it's just the way they're trained to push the product.

[Hazmat]

You didn't step in anything, unless you count the steaming pile of pushiness he left in your inbox.

I love this phrase!  It describes Spam perfectly! 

[JenJay]

Ugh! About 2-3 years ago I was waiting around just before school let out when another mom approached me and struck up a conversation. She asked a lot of questions (What do you do? What's your husband's name? What does he do? Etc.) but friendly. I figured she was just really outgoing so I chatted with her. She started telling me how she had recently started her own business and she was so happy, etc. Then she dropped the bomb that she sold a weight loss program (food and supplements) and she'd love to discuss it with me.

Okay, I could have lost 25lbs (And have lost 15-20, in a safe and healthy way, over the past 18 months, thankyouverymuch!), but who does that?! I was hurt but politely declined, rounded up my kids and left. A few days later I started receiving invitations to add her on Linked (which I don't even use), Facebook, etc. She had used our names & occupations to track me down online and try to recruit me. I just deleted/ignored it all and avoided her at school functions. She tried 2 or 3 times then gave up.

Sorry you had to deal with that, WW. He's a jerk!