The Power of Oprah

By Jeralyn, Section Economy
Posted on Wed Dec 30, 2015 at 03:03:20 PM EST
Tags: Oprah, Weight Watchers (all tags)

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Weight Watcher's stock soared today. Why? Oprah Winfrey, now a 10% shareholder in the company, released an ad featuring Oprah and Oprah sent out a tweet with the ad. That's apparently all it took.

I have always liked Weight Watchers. It was founded in the early 1960's by Jean Nidetch, then a Brooklyn housewife and compulsive eater. Her partners were her overweight husband and another couple. Within 5 years, there were 5 million members and franchises everywhere. The message was that over-eating is an emotional problem.

Jean died last April at age 91. I spent a week at a health spa with her in the early 80's, which was a few years after she and her partners sold the company to R.J. Heinz (for $71.2 million) and probably around the time she retired from her public relations role.

She was very smart and funny and fun to be around.

Here's a picture I took of her that week, and one another guest took of her and me. (again, these were taken was some 30 years ago. I probably weighed 100 pounds at the time.)

Weight Watcher's answer to over-eating in the 60's:

[T]the crucial ingredient was psychological — journals to keep track of what one ate, diets with realistic goals and lifelong maintenance programs, supportive magazines and books, television forums, camps, and meetings like those for alcoholics, with confessions and motivational speakers.

Oprah and Weight Watchers are a perfect pairing -- almost like peanut butter and jelly.

I wonder if Oprah ever met Jean. Oprah has also been to the same spa, reportedly many times (as has just about every other celebrity wanting a break from their hectic life or to lose weight). Weight Watcher's stock today is just over $23.00 a share. You can buy 370 shares of Weight Watchers for the price of one week at the spa. If you could only choose one, which would it be? I'd choose the week at the spa.