Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Consider the Alternative...

Back in the 70's, Weight Watchers was not the only game in town, you know. There were other weight loss plans, and most of them were pretty weird. In fact, the more I think about it, my little Retro WW Experiment is pretty healthy and normal by comparison. Anyone remember this catastrophe?



I still have vague childhood memories of seeing these little gooey chocolate tabs and desperately wanting to eat one, but being told "NO! Those are for grown ups only!".

Due to obvious marketing challenges, this diet fell swiftly by the wayside in the mid-eighties.

But almost 50 years after its inception -- WW is still around. So they must be doing something right. Or perhaps they just picked a more fortuitous name?

11 comments:

Helen said...

Holy crap! Where are you digging this stuff up from? I totally remember my mother using these stupid things. Of course, because I was a kid, I wanted to eat them too. In fact I vaguely remember mom hiding them because she was terrified that we'd sneak eat them.

Barbara said...

Actually, Ayds was successful for many, many years. The unfortunate name was their downfall, once AIDS became well known.

Leanne @ The Skinny Architect said...

This is interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds

Mimi said...

I wonder how many households in the 70's and 80's had these stashed away in the pantry? I would bet there were many! Everyone's looking for a "quick fix" -- even today!

Mary Anne said...

I remember my mom having these, and I did try them at least once - they were good!

Vintage Christine said...

They were delish! I usually ate about 10 of them at a time so it's little wonder I never lost any weight on the Ayds plan.

Pam said...

Such an unfortunate name...I'm guessing when AIDS was coined in the 1980s, Ayds went the way of the Dodo bird. Imagine asking your pharmacist "Do you have Ayds?"

Unknown said...

Ah yes... Ayds. My friends and his brother thought they were being SO sneaky when they found their parents stash, and started pigging out on them. I don't think I need to tell you the rest of the story. LOL!

My Mom went to Weight Watchers meetings in mall during the 70's. I remember her giving me some money to blow while she attended them.

Great Blog Girlie!!

Roxanne said...

Mmmm! I remember those. Yes, I begged for them, too.

Yes, my mother had to hide them.

Susie said...

Just found your blog today and I'm having fun reading from the beginning on. Don't remember these but wow!

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