ERIKA BIEDERBECK DARIN DEVINE The Big Opportunity

Article discusses how obese Americans are becoming fastest growing consumer segment  1980 – 23 million obese people  2006 – 60 million obese people  2012 – 112 million obese people Entrepreneurs recognized this and are creating new products to satisfy their needs  “Just as baby boomers have driven business and shaped the economy during the past half century, the "plus-size" population is likely to dictate marketing trends through much of the 21 st ”

The Big Opportunity Tim Barry  Air line seat belt extenders  Extra-large bath towels  High-capacity Scales Liz Claiborne  First plus-sized clothing line Toyota  RAV4 Bigger seats Ralph Lauren, Old Navy, Jessica Simpson, and Tommy Hilfiger  introduced plus size collections Hospital Furniture Layne Bryant Big John Toilets Dance club only for overweigh people

Advertising Companies don't want to be seen as enablers of an increasingly fat society Don’t want to offend the customers Must use creative marketing/advertising  Toyota – Named the seats “roomier”  Dove – Used bigger models, sales jumped more than 12 percent --far outpacing growth in its category.  “Those results suggest that plus-size consumers, like the rest of us, respond better to pretty portraits of themselves in ads than to what they see in the bathroom mirror.”

Recent Findings Number of obese people has increased since 2006 when this article was published.  More robust furniture  Wider revolving doors – construction  Oversized umbrellas  Bigger bikes  More hospital equipment – bed lifts, wheelchairs  Plus-size shoes – Women Within  Jewelry  Double-wide coffins

"If we know anything about medical history, once you get past a certain weight, you're probably not going to lose it. You'll be my customer for life.”  Tim Barry

What do you think? Do you think these entrepreneurs are enabling obese lifestyles? Is this ethical?

Sources ss2_archive/2006/06/01/ /index.htm ss2_archive/2006/06/01/ /index.htm the-obesity-age/ the-obesity-age/