Truth in Aesthetic Advertising (Ep 46)

Welcome to The Trillium Show, where we help you make the changes you want to see in your body, in your mind, and in your life. I'm your host, Dr. Jason Hall.

Let's talk a little bit about marketing in the aesthetic industry. As Americans, we are marketed to by either aesthetic physicians, aesthetic non-physician providers, aesthetic device and drug companies all the time. You see it everywhere.

I was thumbing through one of our industry magazines, so this, a well-known beauty and aesthetic magazine, and saw something that just made me want to point out to you that how prevalent this is and how important it is to understand the behind the scenes behind a lot of what you're seeing. This magazine I'm looking at is a very well-known, very widely circulated beauty and aesthetic magazine. It has a pro and con section here on the deep plane facelift.

This is the fall, winter 2023 edition. It's got a pro and con section here on the deep plane facelift. The deep plane facelift is not new.

It's been around since the 90s when Dr. Sam Hammer started talking about it. He's a very well-known surgeon out of Dallas that pioneered this composite facelift flap technique.

It has seen a resurrection recently with surgeons like Dr. Andrew Giacono up in New York City, Dr. Mike Nayak in St.

Louis, who I have worked with to learn and help perfect this, my version of this technique, Dr. Mark Monte out in Los Angeles, but these are all guys who have been kind of taken this deep plane concept and pushed it forward and are true pioneers in this facelift surgery technique. It's interesting that these guys are all world experts in this surgery.

In this pro and con section, none of them are quoted. There's not one of them that are quoted as discussing either the pros or the cons. There are a couple of physicians that are quoted here, and all of them are people whose names you see routinely in this magazine.

And then when you look in the back of the magazine, it's really interesting that the people who are quoted in the articles are the same people who are listed as top doctors in whatever state that they're in in the country. And funny that these top doctors that one of these widely circulated beauty magazines are for are the same people who are paying to advertise in their magazine. And is that wrong?

No, it's not wrong, but it's important that you as a consumer, that us as consumers understand that publications like this one and like others that are out there are really just giant paid advertisements for the companies and for the doctors who pay to advertise in these publications. Do any of these surgeons who comment either on the pro or con of a deep plane facelift do a deep plane facelift? I have no idea.

I know they're not one of the people who are referred to as world-renowned experts. Do they do a deep plane facelift or do they do some other version of a facelift and the only thing that they know about the deep plane facelift is what they read in magazines like this or what they hear at meetings? Do they have any personal experience with it?

I don't know. You don't know, but they're being painted in this publication that they're paying to be mentioned in as if they do. And so it's a buyer beware world out there and just do your homework before you decide to have a procedure, before you take the advice of a magazine like this, do your homework, know who you're talking to, meet with your surgeon, injector, whoever's going to be doing your treatment, talk to them about the pros and cons, talk to them about their experience with these procedures.

If you're weighing two different technical procedures, talk to people who do those procedures. Not patients that have heard about it or magazines that give you a good pro and con, but talk to actual people who do these procedures, who can give you the pros and cons so that you can make the most educated decision that you can and don't fall for the marketing hype. Thanks for listening to The Trillium Show.

You can keep up with the latest on the podcast at jhallmd.com. Be sure to follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to connect with us on social media, you can find us at jhallmd on Instagram and Twitter and Dr.

Hall Plastic Surgery on Facebook. Remember, be the change you wish to see in the world.