Jenny Craig: Cashing In On Crash Diets with Ronald Young Jr. and Emmy Blotnick | 90

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Imagine it's the 90s and you've invested in Jenny Craig's frozen diet meals and they've sent you some dessert.

You defrost your triple chocolate cheesecake and pull back the lid to reveal

one bite of cheesecake.

Where's the cake, Jenny?

Everybody wants to lose weight quickly and easily.

At Jenny Craig's, we get resolved.

Weight loss giant Jenny Craig may shutter its corporate office as soon as this Friday.

The company struggles, just one sign of a seismic shift in the $75 billion diet industry.

We are on a

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From Wondery and At Will Media, this is The Big Flop, where we chronicle the greatest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time.

I'm your host, Misha Brown, social media superstar, and trying to get down to my birth weight at Your Bestie Misha.

And on our show today, I'm so excited because we have a prolific podcast host.

You can catch him on several shows, including Pop Culture Debate Club and Wait For It.

It's Ronald Young Jr.

Hey, Ronald.

Hello, Misha.

I'm happy to be here.

Joining Ronald, we also have a comedian, actress, and writer.

It's Emmy Blutnick.

Hey, Bestie.

Hi.

Thanks for having me.

Before we get into Jenny Craig, have any of us tried weight loss diets?

And I guess, was it Jenny Craig?

I recall Jenny Craig, but

I don't think I had...

I think I was a child with no money in Jenny Craig's peak.

So

I've had to resort

to lower cost options.

I never did Jenny Craig, never did Weight Watchers, anything like that.

But I feel like I've been surrounded by diet culture most of my life.

Okay, we're not Jenny Craig alums here.

So let's get into the saga.

Jenny Craig, the person, nay, Genevieve Marie Goudros, was born in 1932 in Louisiana.

She's the youngest of six children, and times are tough because it's the old Great Depression.

Her father works three jobs just to keep the family afloat, and Jenny idolizes him.

As America's economy springs back following World War II, Jenny, like many who grew up in the 30s and 40s, comes to believe that anything can be accomplished if you just work hard enough at it, just like her daddy did.

We love some delusional post-war, you know, optimism.

Now, I just want to give a quick disclaimer.

It's important to set one thing straight before we get into the rise and fall of the Jenny Craig Weight Loss Company.

It is almost universally accepted now that losing weight is an incredibly difficult thing to do.

Like, it's unnatural.

Our bodies have an equilibrium, and when we drastically mess with it, we can become less healthy even if we slim down temporarily.

Unfortunately, despite Jenny Craig being sort of the Uber-empowered business lady to some, her company does contribute to toxic diet culture, and some may even say misogyny.

So we just want to put that out there at the beginning.

That's what I'm talking about, Misha.

Right off the top, let them know where we stand.

I love it.

Let them know.

Shame on you, Genevieve.

Well, Jenny's family, they can't afford to send her to college.

So she heads straight into the workforce and she also starts a family.

And this seems to be where her fixation on weight loss begins.

After her second kid, the way it was just not coming off.

And Jenny, she is not happy about it.

So what does good old Jen do?

She gets hyper-fixated on all things fitness.

She becomes a regular at a gym called Silhouette, and she scours the local library for books about dieting and health.

And the managers of silhouette gyms, they are impressed because she's not only exercising, but she's almost evangelical about it, like talking to everyone in sight about their own weight loss goals, which

boundaries.

I mean, I have to say, just as an aside, silhouette is a great name for a gym because a silhouette can actually be any shape.

I feel like when they say silhouette, that sounds ambiguous.

But what if they would have called the gym something like flattery or flattering?

Oh, yes.

But they used something that was a little bit more ambiguous.

So you're absolutely right, Emmy.

Yes.

Come to the gym, a person's shadow.

But can you imagine Genevieve just like walking up to random strangers and just being like, hi, where are you on your weight loss journey?

So

my headphones in.

Don't talk to me.

Don't look at me.

I'm in my own world.

You know, as somebody who's been at the gym on the treadmill working out and had people walk up to me to give me advice for losing weight, like this is not surprising.

Like, I'm like, I'm already here.

I'm doing the thing that you're shaming me into doing.

And you're still like, hey, you want to do that more?

You want to speed that treadmill up?

Like, could you make this faster?

Leave me alone.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It sounds like maybe she had, like, now that we're talking about it, I'm like, this is kind of a harassment campaign.

Approaching exercising people?

What are you thinking, Genevieve?

Well, her harassment campaign, it works because by the early 1960s, Jenny's managing five silhouette locations.

And she mortgages her home to open her very own gym called Healthletic and quickly sells it to silhouette.

So she's a businesswoman, everybody.

Wow.

What is Healthletic a portmanteau of?

Is it health and athletic or is it like health and fanatic?

What are the words we're using here?

It's health and fabletics, the Kate Hudson yoga pants.

Got you.

So it's a portmanteau of another portmanteau, I guess.

Yeah, there we go.

There we go.

Jenny also works with her sister on a body wrapping spa idea and then moves on to work for another company, Body Contour Inc.

Figure Salons.

Which, if you think that's a mouthful, that's how companies used to be named.

So stop yelling at me for it.

With the portmanteau back now, I was like, can you smash all those words together, please?

Please.

At Body Contour, Jenny meets her future everything, Mr.

Sid Craig, a former child tap dancer, turned ballroom dance instructor who worked his way up over the years at the company to become president of Body Contour.

Sid was also born in 1932, so they're both Great Depression kids and have been shaped by hard times.

For nine years, Sid and Jenny worked side by side while married to other people, barely containing their desire for each other, furtive glances, etc., etc.

But in 1979, they finally divorce their mutual spouses and tie the knot in Vegas.

And we have a picture of them.

Here they are.

Wow.

Wow.

Okay.

I don't know what I was expecting, but the top hat certainly sends a message.

Yes.

And I didn't realize until I saw this photo that a woman in opaque white hosiery is, that is sort of the ladies' top hat.

There's something about

something about

this stark, this ghostly, ghostly hose.

Um, it's it's really striking.

There's something about the way that he's the way he's doing the piano hands on the shoulder, too.

Immediately, I'm like, is this a cry for help?

Like, what do we, what's going on here?

Yeah, it's very like look what I caught, like guy with a trout sort of hose.

And this looks like, is this Commander's Palace in New Orleans?

It could be.

This really has a

sort of like slightly haunted look to the decor.

For sure.

For sure.

But yeah, for the listeners only, they are very prim.

They are very proper.

Cute couple.

We'll give them that.

They're a cute couple.

So Sid supports his amazing new wife at every step along the way as she climbs.

What about the last wife?

What about the other wife?

I'm still thinking about, like, I can root for this couple, but like,

we're just gonna leave another man and woman in the dust.

Who knows?

Maybe, maybe, maybe they found each other and they're very happy.

I don't know.

Oh my God.

So, by 1981, Jenny has become the national director of operations for Body Contour's owner.

What's not so great is that she and Sid start bickering with the owners.

And after some behind-the-scenes negotiating, an agreement is struck to sell the figure salon to a new up-and-coming company that sells pre-packaged diet meals, Nutra System.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

These are like the Avengers of diet culture.

Like the, I'm sorry, not even the Avengers.

What is the opposite of the Avengers?

Whatever that is.

They're the bad guys of diet culture.

The expendables?

Is that a different franchise?

I think those were good guys too.

Whatever they are, these are the bad guys.

These are the bad guys.

Yes.

Jenny and Sid are now free free from their stifling partners at Body Contour and can start their own company.

And they also make out like bandits.

For their part in this sale, Jenny and Sid are going to make $7.5 million.

That's like $25 million in today money.

And they'll get another half million to stay on and help Nutra System with the transition.

So

I'm guessing I can already tell, but how do we feel about these pre-packaged diet meals?

I've had Nutra System food and it's garbage.

Like it's, I don't, it just doesn't taste good.

They try to convince you, oh my God, it's so good.

You'll just want to keep eating it.

I'm like, no, I don't want to keep eating it.

And that's kind of the, I guess that's kind of the point of Nutra System is that you eat it, you get sad and you're like, I don't want to eat food.

And I get sad.

Is it frozen?

Like, what are they?

What are they?

Frozen, pre-packaged meals that you just heat up in the microwave.

Yeah.

Talk about the sodium content, but

It's like airplane style, like the little tray and it's microwaved and like, or I guess the oven if you love yourself, but it's like

there's only so, there's a ceiling on how good a little, a little foil rectangle can be.

Yeah.

Now, another problem is that Jenny and Sid really don't like working with Nutra System C-suite, and it's, it's like, it's a gross, cigar-filled boys' club, right?

There's actually a riveting five-part series about this called The Diet Wars from Wondery's Own Business Wars.

Very fun.

Go listen to that.

So, Jenny and Sid bail halfway through their one-year commitment with Nutra System, but they kind of like the idea of selling prepaid meals.

However, they signed a non-compete for the buyout for two years.

All diet and weight loss businesses are off the table for the power couple,

except in Australia.

So, with over $7 million to play with, Jenny and Sid head down under to test out their brilliant ideas with the goal of coming back to America in two years with a brand already built.

And Sid suggests they call their company Jenny Craig.

How sweet.

Wow.

How sweet.

Is it sweet or is it like passing the buck?

Is it kind of like, like, if this goes south, they'll blame you?

Oh,

I don't know.

I don't want to aspire malicious intent to

Sid.

So Jenny Craig's comprehensive weight loss program will include weekly counseling as well as lifestyle classes and behavior modification tapes on cassette.

So like a podcast.

And there's also a low-impact exercise program.

But most importantly, there's the food.

Jenny's own pre-packaged and frozen meals.

Do you have any idea what makes Jenny Craig's cuisine so special compared to her competitors?

The sodium.

Margarine?

It's usually.

I thought it was a very margarine-heavy diet.

Butter and salt?

No, the answer is nothing.

Nothing.

The meals aren't that much healthier than a typical TV dinner, but they are smaller.

Yeah.

Oh my God.

They figured it out.

The key to the Jenny Craig diet is calorie restriction.

The target zone is 1,200 to 1,700 calories per day.

And depending on how we're built, most adults need between 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day.

So Jenny Craig's meals, even if they're technically decadent-sounding things like chicken fettuccine alfredo or triple chocolate cheesecake, are teensy.

And if you're really hungry, the program lets you eat as many vegetables as you want, which of course you have to buy yourself.

Do you know how infuriating it would be to open a triple chocolate cheesecake and it'd be like one bite,

yeah.

You're like, Where is it?

They're so angry,

tear the room apart, be like, Come on, man.

I know myself, if I were like, Okay, I'm gonna be on this like super strict Jenny Craig diet, and I was looking forward all week to that triple chocolate cheesecake, and it came out and it was one bite, I would go on a binge.

It would do the opposite.

I would, how do you not just eat your whole week?

Yes, if not, or like you're losing weight from tearing the room apart in anger, punching holes in the wall like

where's the rest of the game

rage does burn calories it burns

so by 1983 jenny and sid have spent half their money on opening nine weight loss centers across melbourne but nobody signs up australians don't know that they need weight loss centers yet so how would you convince them that they absolutely need to like what would be your business plan i'd say oi mate.

It is a strong start.

Strong start.

You need some shrimp on the bottom.

I have no idea.

I don't know how to talk to Australians.

I love it.

I love it.

You are very committed.

They'd be mad at me for being a bigot.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, it's tough because the Australians are kind of a naturally hot people.

There's like, they all surf and run and stuff.

So, like, do you just have to go nagging people with your husband like door to door?

Do you want to move like Ray Gunn?

Ray gunner.

I'm catching strays every day.

Yeah.

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What Jenny and Sid do is they borrow some money and they open up even more centers to make the Jenny Craig brand seem more successful.

Classic.

And they get really crafty with their ad campaigns, which are a cross between PSAs and infomercials.

And in many of them, Jenny speaks directly to camera, sometimes surrounded by women in lab coats while she wait splains the process.

Wait, hold on, Misha, did you just say wait splain?

Wait splains.

I can't let you slide with that.

That's not a thing.

It's a fit.

It's an instant classic, actually.

You were just going to coast right by, like, we didn't hear you say that.

Like, yeah, let me just try this one up.

We heard you.

Okay, okay.

So these ads, they also include before and after pictures with quote unquote real testimonials from folks who've lost weight on the program.

Let's take a look.

I was a fat person with a thin person inside.

Jenny's program has given me a whole new life.

I lost 16 kilos in three months.

You know, okay, so the first thing is, as an American, I'm about to say the most American thing ever.

When they say, and I know we should be on the metric system, but whenever they say 16 kilos, I'm like, I don't know if that's a lot

of weight.

That could literally be anything, lady.

Like, is this a success or not?

I think 16 kilos is the amount of cocaine you're allowed to have for personal use.

And

she looked fine before is the other thing.

Like, I think they put her in a big nightgown in the before picture.

Yeah, it was really the outfit that was

doing the worst to you.

It was not your weight.

Like, just change your clothes.

yeah she could have been like earlier today i was in a very unflattering nightgown and now i've i've put a belt over my blazer

i also want to know was i was a fat person with a thin person inside scripted or just like off the cuff

it is it's kind of like it's there's something very dark and existential about that right that's a whole principle like and that was like what they were doing at that time is saying well there's a thin person inside of you waiting to get out.

I'm like, what?

Is the thin person in the room with us right now?

What are you talking about?

Like, what's the difference here?

Yeah, now that's.

Yeah, they're like, I haven't met her yet.

I don't know.

And hello, is she in here?

Like, somehow she has to break out of the fet.

So Jenny and Sid hope all this PR will discourage other weight loss companies from muscling in on their turf, all while Australians realize how desperately they need to lose weight.

And it works, actually.

By the end of their first year in Australia, Jenny and Sid have opened 50 weight loss centers and that number quickly doubles.

And with that kind of momentum and the two-year non-compete timed out, the path is clear for the Craigs' triumphant return to the good old US of A.

What could go wrong?

No, no, seriously, like what could go wrong?

What like

I know this probably negates the format of the podcast because I think we're going to find out what actually goes wrong.

But, like, the real question is, what can't go wrong?

Like, you spent a bunch of money opening centers that probably aren't even servicing people, but somehow dictated success through the promotional campaigns.

And now you're going to turn around and try to like repeat that format with what type of results in the United States.

Like, I mean, it's snake oil, so of course, people are going to buy it.

But yeah, you're right.

What could go wrong here?

What could go wrong?

Well, their first little hiccup in 1985, the Craigs casually plop onto the LA fitness scene and open 12 Jenny Craig weight loss centers all at the same time.

But here's the problem.

Competition in Los Angeles is fierce.

This is LA.

The city is chock full of gyms and weight loss programs.

So they had to figure out how to get people to choose Jenny Craig.

And they start by selling frozen meals on site at the fitness centers, like finish your sets and reward yourself with a teeny tiny chicken palm.

Yeah, again, Misha, if I open that package and there's not a healthy size of chicken parm, I'm destroying this room.

So

they need to get creative.

And what really moves the needle is their ad campaigns.

Do you remember the jingle?

I'm sure if you played it, we might.

I feel like you're about to remind us.

It was like, let yourself feel how you want to feel.

1-800-94 Jenny.

Yes.

1-894-Jenny.

Yes.

It rings a bell.

Also, you have the voice of an angel, Misha.

Absolutely.

At the beginning of this, I was like, I am buying Jenny Craig when you start.

Yeah, with no warm-up.

Are you kidding me?

That was wonderful.

I feel how I want to feel.

Don't mind if I do.

She was a professional singer for years before talking shit on the internet.

Yeah.

So the ads, they aren't just memorable for their music, but also famous faces.

So to find out which celebrities have shilled out for Jenny Craig over the years, let's play a game.

Okay, here are the rules.

I'm going to ask you some trivia questions about famous people from Jenny Craig Spots, and whoever gets the most correct answer wins.

A teeny tiny chicken farm.

Let's go.

All right, first question.

In terms of digital downloads, this recording artist has arguably the best-selling Christmas single of all time.

Oh, that's Mariah Carey.

Is this Mariah Carey?

Yes, Mariah Carey.

Oh, Mariah.

It was, in fact, Mariah.

She was a Jenny Craig spokesperson in the early 2010s.

All right, second question.

This member of The View was also a Jenny Craig ambassador.

It's funny because it could be anyone on the view, not because they're like out of shape or anything, but I could see any of the women on the view doing this, but probably Joy Behar.

I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but you're correct.

And here's a clip of Joy Behar.

Cabbage soup, wheatgrass, fad diets belong in the garbage.

But I belong in this outfit.

Wow.

It's just a black outfit.

Joy, you could wear that anytime.

Yeah, that is very true.

The outfit was like very not shape-specific.

No.

and i don't know cabbage soup was that a fad diet nobody's ever offered me cabbage soup before

no i'm like is this a potato famine like what are we talking about here all right third question this jenny craig spokeswoman was nominated for an oscar for her supporting role in the movie musical chicago I didn't know this was going to be, it's funny, as a pop culture guy, I feel like I should know this.

And I'm like, oh, no.

It's not Renee Zelwegre.

Is it Catherine Zeta Jones?

No, it's Queen Latifah.

Oh,

and here's Queen Latifah.

Get a little more active, and you can really reduce your risk of diabetes and other health problems.

All right.

Come on, Queen.

Whose side are you on, Queen?

All right, we have got one more.

This guy was a former Broadway actor, then sitcom star, yada, yada, yada.

He became a Jenny Craig spokesperson.

Oh, this is George Costanza.

So this is Jason, Jason,

Jason, Jason Alexander?

Yes, ding, ding, ding.

Okay,

I love this clip.

Take a look, drink it in.

I was fat, now I'm fair.

Whoa.

God, George.

What are you doing, man?

Those tearaway khaki pants are something I'd like to buy, but the diet I can leave.

Yeah.

so

I just feel like I watch those whenever I see the before and after, and like the stuff they're wearing, the choices they're making.

I'm always like, it really isn't about the weight, it's really about the choices, the fashion choices.

When you ran up there in that shirt and those khakis, somebody should have been like, Maybe we put a jacket on them or something.

I don't know.

Well, by 1991, Jenny Craig is a global phenomenon.

The Craigs are opening four new stores a week, and Jenny Craig is the sixth largest company in America.

There are over 500 centers in the U.S.

and over 100 in other countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and Mexico.

Annual revenue closes in on $400 million.

How else do you think they can grow a company at this point?

Going after the kids?

Go in public.

Oh, yeah, that makes more sense.

I'm just saying, when I say go after the kids, I think it's a child weight loss program, to be clear.

Not murder.

I'd like to buzz in with child predation.

I just want to make sure it's clear.

All right.

Ooh, kidnapping.

No, in 1991, Jenny Craig is listed on the stock market.

And within one hour, Jenny and Sid are richer by $73 million.

So Jenny isn't only wealthier than she could have ever imagined, she's the pinnacle of female success.

She has it all.

She has a husband, kids, a great figure, a private jet, a Mercedes limo.

By the way, the license plate of that limo is Be Thin 2.

Oh, no.

This is giving pyramid scheme.

It's giving multi-level marketing.

You know what I mean?

It's giving, I could do this, so just go to your downline.

Like, yeah, I don't like it.

Like, I don't, I don't like when people put stuff like that that's like directly connected to their business as a part of their license plate.

Like, I mean, it just makes me want to paintball your car.

Now, sometimes early excitement for a company can lead to a correction.

By 1993, there are almost 800 centers in existence, but customers complain that the centers seem understaffed and the quality of service is mediocre.

But who cares about the customers?

You know,

it's much more important that the investors are unhappy.

That super high stock price of $21

a share loses a third of its value almost immediately.

So Jenny and Sid start hunting for a new CEO, but Sid, who's been the CEO since the company's founding in 1983, will remain as chairman.

Their hope is with new management, they can reinvent the brand, make more money, and appease the angry investors all at the same time.

So while they try to put out that fire, the Federal Trade Commission enters the picture that same year.

Oops.

Because now that the company is public, there's more scrutiny.

Misha, remind me what year this is?

1993.

Okay, so this is Clinton.

This is Clinton.

Okay, just curious.

But this is like, this is now a big problem.

The FTC has been going after all of the big diet companies for a couple of years.

The agency wants the entire weight loss industry to answer for false claims and advertising.

So that also includes Jenny Craig's old frenemy, Nutra System, and the new rival, Weight Watchers.

Yeah,

wow.

This is funny because it feels like foreshadowing to what's going to happen in a few years with the GLP-1 drugs, but uh-huh.

That's just me just talking.

Like, don't worry about me.

So, on top of the sketchy advertising, the FDC is also concerned with the long-term health of dieters.

Some dieters are having serious complications because it turns out if you lose too much weight too quickly, you can get gallbladder disease where you start forming gallbladder stones and might even have to surgically remove the organ.

Instant weight loss.

Sorry.

They were like, we did it, guys.

What are you talking about?

This is what you wanted.

Five pounds off.

Do you know a bunch of gallbladder weighs?

I put my gallbladder in the garbage and now I can wear black any day.

Like while they're in there, you want us to just take the rest of these out?

We can get rid of a lot of this weight.

Just like, we can take out your lungs, all that stuff.

Don't even worry about it.

Yo, you don't need these.

Oh, the amount of people chat gpting the average weight of a gallbladder is gonna skyrocket wow public service announcement because we were just talking about it now that more and more folks are taking medications like ozempic and losing weight really quickly they're also at risk for gallbladder disease so yeah the more you know yeah I was born in 84 and I'm thinking about from then till now, there's always been a something that it's like you're going to lose weight.

So it wasn't Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers.

It was the Atkins diet.

And then what they've renamed the Atkins diet something else in like the aughts.

Do y'all remember?

It was the all the CrossFitters were doing it.

They called it some paleo.

They were calling it paleo at the time.

And now, like, it's, and now with the GLP1 drugs, I'm just like, y'all don't see the cycle we're on in terms of the same thing we're trying to do over and over again that doesn't seem to be working.

So it's just funny to see the cycle happen.

Yeah, it's like fashion.

It's like very like, you know, now we're, everybody's got to have a like a big dad sneaker.

And then it's like, oh, now we want really small sneakers.

I don't know.

Maybe it's a bad, it's not my best analogy, but

it is just like a moving target is more of what I'm getting at.

Yeah.

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On Boxing Day 2018, 20-year-old Joy Morgan was last seen at her church, Israel United in Christ, or IUIC.

I just went on my Snapchat and and I just see her face plastered everywhere.

This is The Missing Sister, the true story of a woman betrayed by those she trusted most.

IUIC is my family and like the best family that I've ever had.

But IUIC isn't like most churches.

This is a devilish cult.

You know when you get that feeling where you're just, I don't want to be here.

I want to get out.

It's like that feeling of, like, I want to go hang out.

I'm Charlie Brentcoast Cuff and after years of investigating Joy's case, I need to know what really happened to Joy.

Binge all episodes of The Missing Sister exclusively and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.

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So to protect their interests, a bunch of big diet companies, including Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem, they form a trade association.

But in 1994, while still fighting the FTC, Jenny and Sid end up settling another class action lawsuit for false advertising, affecting 360,000 customers who used its service between 1987 and 1990.

Now, the Craigs don't admit any wrongdoing, classic, but they do pay out $10 million in cash to 22,000 customers and weirdly, $36 million in merchandise to anyone else who files a claim.

Okay.

What Ginny Crank?

So you're telling me I sued y'all and it's like, hey, I'm sorry.

I got you a 3XL t-shirt.

Yeah.

And it says Ginny Crank on it.

I'm like, yeah, you're going to promote your business.

I just sued you, but I will promote your business.

Here's a thermos from the people who lied to you.

Also, fun fact, most folks don't even cash in their lawsuit merch coupons.

So, people also got those merch coupons and were like, absolutely not.

They just threw that in the garbage.

Wow.

So, all things considered, this does not hurt Jenny Craig that much.

At least not enough for Jenny and Sid to stop buying planes and race horses with all of their money because, oh, yeah, Sid's always dreamed of winning the Kentucky Derby, and their first racehorse is named Mr.

Devious.

Cute.

Mr.

Devious.

Like, this is not an admission of guilt, but our horse is named Mr.

Deegas.

So the company's profits, they do continue to soar with revenues reaching over $400 million in 1994 alone.

So she's doing okay.

But just when Jenny's on top of the world, her health takes a dive.

This is crazy.

In April of 1995, Jenny falls asleep on the couch with her chin resting on her chest.

And suddenly she's startled by a noise and she jerks her head up.

It's the TV.

She's safe, but something else is wrong.

Her lower jaw hasn't snapped into place and it's stuck over her upper jaw.

And she can't open her mouth.

She can't talk.

She doesn't know what the hell is happening.

And so she has to try to pry her teeth apart.

So this terrifying event doesn't just leave Jenny in incredible pain.

It requires years of rehab and surgery.

to fix it.

So suddenly she's no longer able to be the perfect spokeswoman for her own company.

And it ends up being like this weird, ominous sign of what's to come.

That's awful.

Misha, what's did they find out what the condition was or what was it?

I don't know.

I don't like when there's not names for things that terrify me.

It's like, I need to know if this can or would happen to me.

And now you've just unlocked a new fear in me for it.

And I'm like, I don't even know what this is.

Like, if they call the name Bell's Palsy, at least if you wake up with half your face paralyzed, you're like, there's a thing that this is.

but you just explained something to me, but we don't know what did it, what happened.

No, this is like a whole, it's like a separate, it's like Jenny Craig's syndrome.

Like, you do this diet, and then your lower face tries to eat your upper face.

Because it's hungry.

It's hungry.

Yeah.

Well, in the aftermath of her alarming jaw problem, Jenny officially steps down as the spokeswoman for her brand.

But besides health issues, they've got a big problem.

In 1996, a magic weight loss potion blows up the dieting market and nearly destroys Jenny Craig, the company.

So it's called Fenfen.

Yes.

Yes.

Now, Fenfen is actually two drugs prescribed together, one of which suppresses your appetite and causes drowsiness.

The other of which is a stimulant and can cause increased heart rate, nervousness, insomnia, and constipation.

fun

i love that one of the drugs is just be like you're not hungry go to sleep

And then the other one's like, but you're going to be awake.

Yeah, exactly.

Well, maybe you should hit that treadmill as hard as you can.

Neutrisystem, Jenny Craig's mortal enemy, goes all in on Fenfen.

And Jenny Craig's customers start to jump ship to try the miracle drug.

And after a few months of sinking profits, Jenny Craig succumbs to the pressure and hires a bunch of doctors to sell the pills to its customers.

And all it takes is a 10-minute consultation, and folks can leave the weight loss centers with their beach body in a bottle.

Misha, this is okay.

Again, not a joke.

This is literally what Noom is doing with Ozempic and GLP-1 drugs right now.

Like all of a sudden, you're getting advertisements from Noom that are like, hey, also, you can get this, you can get this shot of Wagovi up in you and we'll, we'll help with the other.

I'm like, like if they're joining forces with the pharmaceuticals, like that's, it's like the, I don't know, it's always like the sixth sign of the apocalypse or whatever man like it's almost over you know so thanks to fenfen business for jenny booms once again and the entire weight loss industry gets its mojo back generating close to two billion dollars in sales in 1997 weight watchers gets on the right side of dieting history exercising see what i did there unusual restraint for a big corporation and refusing to prescribe pills yeah meanwhile jenny and sid's arch nemesis over at nutra system according to one of its doctors, stops ordering blood tests for customers before giving them fenfen.

Not great.

Whoa.

They also offer two months of fenfen for free for customers switching from Jenny Craig.

Rude.

Now, in May of 1997, the years-long battle between Jenny Craig and the Federal Trade Commission culminates in a huge settlement to

be more honest.

Jenny Craig signs a consent agreement to be more truthful in advertising.

Any claims the company makes needed to be backed by actual customer experience.

Can you even?

And taglines like, quote, for many dieters, weight loss is temporary must be included in the ads.

Also, prices needed to be more transparent.

Like a lot of promotions like, lose all the weight you can for just X amount of dollars have never included all of the extras like the cost of food and now they must.

Wow.

Oh, that's right.

Because I remember those ads, like I want to say, when say the year again, Misha?

1997.

Okay, I was going to say around 2000, I remember hearing those ads and hearing them always saying, for X amount, they'd be like, for $99, you can lose 99 pounds plus the cost of food.

They'd say it like that all of a sudden.

And I'd be like, I remember in my ear being like, what do you mean plus, how much is the food?

Yeah, burying the lead a little bit like and where does the 99 go then is it just it's to open more centers like

yeah i don't know if this is like a fair settlement though like you just you just got to be a little bit more transparent given the fact that they're peddling drugs Yeah, you became a big pharma all of a sudden.

Like, what are we talking about here?

Well, back to Fenfen.

By 1997, 6 million people have happily taken it to slim down.

Can you guess what happens next?

People start dying.

Basically, in July of that year, the Mayo Clinic reports that Fenfen can destroy your heart valves.

Jenny Craig stops prescribing the deadly combo, but Nutracism, they lag behind.

Oh, Nutracistism.

But then the FDA outright bans it in September of 1997.

So, sorry, Fenfen, the party's over.

As it should be.

But because millions of people have taken Fenfen, thousands end up with serious heart and lung damage.

It's so sad.

It lends itself to the same thing.

Like if you prey on people's desperation to change, like this is what you end up with.

You know what I mean?

These things, like as soon as they figure out that it makes you lose weight, they start like pushing them so hard.

And we don't know the, like, who's going to be the first person that's like, oh my God, my heart valves.

Like after all this wagovi.

Like, I don't, I.

Oh.

I'm sorry that it feels like we just turned this into a very special episode of the big flop.

It's like, gather your family for this episode of the big flop.

We have something to tell you.

Yeah, can we all sit around?

This is a cautionary tale, everybody.

Yeah.

So by the end of the year, sales numbers aren't great and Jenny Craig's revenues dropped to $365 million with a net income of only about $8 million.

So desperate, Sid and Jenny try to launch a new program called ABC, where dieters no longer count calories, but use a food group system.

They launched two new products, a line of supplements and Jenny Craig branded exercise equipment.

And they know exactly how to market these new offerings.

A kick-ass new brand ambassador.

So

can you guess who I'm talking about?

Like who would be the boldest choice for a spokesperson in the late 1990s?

It was Oprah, right?

It wasn't Oprah.

Jenny Craig, boldest choice.

She was the center of a very big scandal.

Not Monica Lewinsky.

Let's play a clip.

Okay.

It's a great program for someone who not only wants to lose weight, but who's looking to change their life.

Oh my God, it is.

Oh, wow.

No.

Whoa.

No.

Why don't I remember this?

That was such a good setup.

I know.

And that was a good guess, too.

That's like.

But Immi, it felt like he drew me into his web.

And I was just like, that couldn't be Monica Lewinsky.

And he's like, well, since you said it, wow.

What a bold choice.

Absolutely.

And I like absolutely love the evolution of Monica Lewinsky, especially to today.

But that's a wild usage of her

when it's like still very present in people's minds.

Wow.

What a choice.

But back then, it was a big swing and it was ultimately a miss.

After a brief rally, the Jenny Craig stock tumbles once again and Jenny and Sid blame the fail on Monica.

But the fact is, this has been a long time coming.

Okay.

But the true rock bottom is still to come.

By 2000, the company seems like it's really in trouble.

The stock price is practically nothing.

It's only worth about $3.75 a share.

And the investors are desperate for a buyer to bail them out.

So Jenny and Sid, they already own two-thirds of the company, but they think they might be able to save the brand if they shell out a cool $25 million

to buy up the rest of it.

Not a bad idea if you've got 25 mil laying around, but it doesn't work out.

And pretty soon the company is yanked from the stock exchange.

So it may be worth a fraction of what it once was, but in 2002, Jenny Craig is sold to an investment firm for over $100 million,

and Jenny and Sid get to pocket most of that change.

After four decades of managing Jenny Craig, it's finally time for Jenny and Sid to retire, write some memoirs, and buy a few more racehorses.

So how do we feel about Jenny, girl boss or evildoer?

It's a thin line.

Yeah, it's, it's, it's, okay, so if you think about capitalism and you think about like what every man does, like every man CEO does, like this is not unusual.

I mean, of course, I think it's disgusting because of like what it does to fat folks and to body image and all that.

But this is not an unusual in American story in terms of like people selling snake oil or doing business methods in order to like make themselves very wealthy and then end with a golden parachute.

Like this, WeWorks did the same thing.

Like, what are we talking about here?

Well, let's do a little, where are they now?

Since the early 2000s, Jenny Craig, the company, has changed hands a couple of times.

Nestle owned it for a hot minute, then some investment firms, then Walgreens.

In 2023, the Jenny Craig Inc.

filed for bankruptcy and its assets were sold off to something called Wellful Inc., who owns, wait for it, Nutra System.

Whoa.

The long con.

So

Sid,

like I said, he passed away in 2008, but Jenny herself is still alive.

At 92 years young, she's not really in the public eye that much, but in a 2019 interview, she still advocated for basically the same stuff as always, portion control and light exercise.

The dieting world has had a few major shifts in recent years.

First, with apps like Noom that market to younger generations, and then semaglutide medications like Ozempic.

There have also been cultural shifts related to body positivity that made marketing weight loss pretty tricky, especially for stalwarts like Weight Watchers.

Weight Watchers even rebranded to WW to distance itself from body shaming and to lean into holistic health.

But that actually didn't work out for them.

People who sought out Weight Watchers, they want to lose weight.

So Weight Watchers finally gave in and started prescribing the newest weight loss drugs as well.

Like we've said, with years of case studies ahead of us, we will see how that all pans out.

A future flop, mayhaps.

Hopefully, not for the sake of people who are taking them.

So, here on the big flop, we try to be positive people and end on a high.

So, are there any silver linings that you can think of that came about from Jenny Craig and the Jenny Craig company?

Silver linings.

We try.

We got to try.

Risha.

What?

I don't know.

Maybe we've, I think we've learned something since then.

Maybe.

Emmy, help me.

I don't know.

I'm happy that Jason Alexander

got

a little extra cash on the side of Seinfeld

because that show may not cover all the bills.

No.

For me, the only silver lining, like, I think is that Weight Watchers didn't make every despicable choice along the way.

They didn't get into Fenfen.

Yeah.

There's something about Weight Watchers, even though I know a lot of people that had a lot of damage from Weight Watchers, hearing that there's certain things that they were just like, we're not going to do that.

tells me that there's there was somebody saying like yeah maybe you can stand to lose some weight or yeah we we want y'all to lose weight, but we don't want you to hurt yourselves.

Which is, I'm like, that is remarkably restrained for a business to do.

And for such a business in such a toxic environment, yeah, the bars are

yeah, yeah.

Well, now that you both know about Jenny Craig, would you consider this a baby flop, a big flop, or a mega flop?

This seems like a like a

you know, century-spanning mega flop.

Mega floppalus, like you know,

like,

yeah, especially because it's a big flop and part of an even bigger industry.

Like, I think this is,

I'd consider this a mega flop, especially when you think about how much we were hearing about Jenny Craig in the 90s and 2000s.

To say, like, now we don't hear about them at all, but now it's morphed into something different.

I'm like, this is a mega flop that we're probably going to see continue to flop in the future.

So like a flop with Richelieu in flop, in flop section.

I don't know.

Yeah, Russian nesting flop.

Yes, Russian nesting flop, even better.

Yes.

Well, thank you so much to our amazing guests, Ronald Young Jr.

and Emmy Blotnick, for joining us here on The Big Flop.

And of course, thanks to all of you for listening and watching.

If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a rating and review or subscribe.

We'll be back next week with another flop.

New York City is known for many things.

Broadway, bagels, Central Park.

But what about conmen?

We're talking about how one of the greatest cities in the world is also home to one of the greatest conmen, Bernie Madoff.

Bye.

Bye.

Oh, bye.

See you.

He's just not talking to us.

He's talking to the audience.

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The Big Flop is a production of Wondery and at-will media, hosted by Misha Brown, produced by Sequoia Thomas, Harry Huggins, and Tina Turner.

Written by Anna Rubinova and Luke Luke Burns.

Engineered by Zach Rapone.

With support from Andrew Holtzberger.

The video podcast is edited by Olivia Vessel.

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Music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Freesong Sink.

Theme song is Sinking Ship by Cake.

Executive producers are Lizzie Bassett, Dave Easton, and Marshall Louie for Wondery.