I haven't seen an article on this posted on RTVW yet, and I thought some of you might be interested.

Breast Implant Ads to Debut on U.S. Makeover Show
Tue Aug 3, 5:00 PM ET
By Michele Gershberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A flash of Janet Jackson's breast on national TV may have launched a thousand complaints, but medical device maker Mentor Corp. believes that marketing breast implants is ready for U.S. prime time.

Mentor will debut its first prime-time ads on ABC network's "Extreme Makeover" plastic surgery show this fall, a testimony to a burgeoning market popularized by buxom celebrities.

"It's a first for prime-time and it's the biggest marketing program for Mentor Aesthetics this year," Sara DeRousse, director of global marketing at Mentor, told Reuters.

DeRousse said Mentor would produce six new commercials to market its saline implants once a week during "Extreme Makeover," a reality show in which applicants endure multiple surgeries in a bid for beauty.

"We strive to create a classy, elegant ad that directs patients to where they can get general information. It's not intended to be a sexy ad," she said. Commercials will use scenarios involving a working woman or mother, she said.

The U.S. advertising industry has broken its share of taboos in recent years, even hawking erectile dysfunction treatments on football's Super Bowl. Mentor has advertised in magazines and five years ago ran commercials on daytime TV in a campaign titled "The Right Profile for You."

Piper Jaffray analyst Tom Gunderson said investors may question whether Mentor can afford an expensive prime-time campaign. "It will be interesting to see what is Mentor's return on their advertising dollars," he added.

Mentor said this week quarterly profits were boosted by breast enlargement product sales. Total breast implant surgeries have grown nearly 180 percent since 1997, but the industry still bears the scars of a safety scare in the early 1990s.

In January, U.S. regulators rejected a bid by rival Inamed Corp. to overturn a 12-year-old ban on silicone implants.

Public health advocates say shows like "Extreme Makeover" and Fox rival "The Swan" gloss over plastic surgery's risks and unduly influence young women and teenagers.

"I wish they would spend as much money doing research on the safety of their breast implants," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Policy Research for Women & Families.

Advertising experts point to a different problem in creating a consumer preference for implants.

"This is a brand choice that would normally be left to the doctor and a product that is never seen once it is in use," said Mark DiMassimo of DiMassimo Carr Brand Advertising. "It's very much like 'Intel Inside."'

Slice n' Dice's Sigpic Chop Shop 2004