Back in 2008, the former actress known as Gwyneth Paltrow launched Goop. She calls it goop, but we’re going to take a grammatical license here and be difficult. It is, probably, against all sense and reason, successful enough as a lifestyle platform to warrant a deal with the publisher of Vogue, Condé Nast.
Paltrow’s readership gets to nibble on information about wellness, recipes, parenting, and things like fashion and travel. As the blurb says, “Goop isn’t simply a website or weekly newsletter, it is an indispensable resource.”
Despite the cachet of a company like Condé Nast endorsing Paltrow, she gets to say stuff about health that would get most trainers fired from the kind of gyms that the coaches on Breaking Muscle run.
We love this quote from Julia Belluz at Vox reacting to the deal with Condé Nast. Belluz really inspired us to stand up and be counted today on this topic, as well:
“Why is this strategy working out so well for Paltrow? Americans are increasingly seeking out alternative medicine and wellness products, and last year Goop attracted $15 million in venture capital—money that has helped expand its health focus. Even so, it would have been nice to see the leadership at Condé Nast—a brand that prides itself on quality—stand with science and reason instead of helping spread Goopshit.”
The problem that we have is not just the information being peddled, and the sense of authority that comes from nothing but a position of celebrity and branding, it is the fact that someone can study for a degree in sports science, nutrition, and a number of health related fields, even get a masters, or a PhD, and they’re not going to make any more than minimum wage to $50 an hour. And they’ll be lucky if anyone listens to them, even then.
Sure, there are plenty of trainers with little in terms of qualifications and expertise who are probably happy to quote Goopshit (our favorite word of the day), but we’ve got to push back.
Be open to new ideas. Why not try things that will improve your health. We can’t judge people for their beliefs, but we can get a little ticked off when the only barrier to credibility is so superficial as to be non-existent.
Remember the Kardashian endorsement of “waist-trainers,” those antiquated torture devices that actually do more harm than good? Yeah, that’s the world we live in today.
A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Oct 29, 2014 at 9:23am PDT
By the way, they don’t work. Even the vested interests of women’s lifestyle publishing can’t bring themselves to raise the banner even a little for this stuff.
We should worry about the real men and women in the trenches of the fitness and health industry who don’t get paid much, who really do know what they’re talking about, and who are never going to be celebrities; your coach and trainer is the person who takes the hit for misinformation masquerading as palpable wellness guidance.