Cosmetic clinic mums and teens in secret bid for new business
A SCANDAL ridden cosmetic surgery clinic is going after divorcees, new mums and women as young as 18 as part of a secret marketing plan to drum up sales for breast enlargements.
NSW
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A SCANDAL ridden cosmetic surgery clinic is going after divorcees, new mums and women as young as 18 as part of a secret marketing plan to drum up sales for breast enlargements.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a cache of leaked documents that reveal Australia’s biggest cosmetic surgery chain The Cosmetic Institute is being taken over by Macquarie Health, which plans a total rebranding of the business to distance the company from negative media and an ongoing class action. The documents also expose ongoing concerns about the clinic with an internal risk assessment stating there was a “shortage of appropriate surgeons”.
It comes after a Saturday Telegraph investigation exposed how cost cutting in the cosmetic industry was putting women’s safety at risk with doctors using Skype to supervise Botox and medical school graduates who had failed GP exams performing complex breast surgeries.
The marketing plan prepared for The Cosmetic Institute by Totem Group shows the company is planning an aggressive three-month campaign to drive up sales for augmentations.
It promises to use social media data to target “key audiences” which are labelled “Look at Me (20-29 years)”, “Post Divorce 35-45 years” and “Mummy Makeover 30-40 years”. A seperate document refers to targeting women as young as 18.
The plan states it will sell breast augmentations as “confidence for every women” and use social media data to spam women who have recently viewed beauty content online.
“We can include users that are following brand’s celebs-specific hashtags,” the plan states. They are also planning on “finding prospects” through phone location data to send adverts to women who have been in physical vicinity of clinics.
The budget states $59,720 will be spent on the “set up” and another $54,250 on the “monthly campaign budget”.
Body Positive Australia director Sarah Harry said she was disgusted a large-scale company was intentionally targeting vulnerable women.
“To go after women they believe are vulnerable to body insecurities like mothers or divorcees to try and exploit their insecurities is horrifying,” she said.
The Cosmetic Institute has clinics in Sydney, Melbourne and The Gold Coast. A class action has been filed in the NSW Supreme Court against it by five lead women who alleged they had suffered heart attacks, punctured lungs, horrific scarring or lost the ability to breastfeed after undergoing breast procedures at The Cosmetic Institute.
Emails sent between a staff member and an external PR agent discuss a story from The Saturday Telegraph which revealed fears that safety standards had been flouted at The Cosmetic Institute to cut costs.
In the emails the PR guru says he thinks the business should change its name to distance itself.
A briefing sent to staff said they should not let media into the clinic. The memo states when asked by customers about the scandal they should “be very calming and reassuring” and explain: “There are a number of allegations floating around in the media, which we are not in a position to comment on”.
It said staff should not discuss a potential takeover by Macquarie Health to anyone outside the clinic.
After hearing horror stories about cosmetic surgery gone wrong, Viki Mercouris wanted a doctor she knew she could trust. Ms Mercouris, 44, had a breast augmentation last year with Western Sydney plastic surgeon Dr. Rohit Kumar.
She said it was only when she started researching clinics that she discovered there is a difference between plastic surgeons — who have done eight to 12 years specialist surgical training — and cosmetic surgeons whose only qualification can be a medical school degree.
“I read the reports about The Cosmetic Institute and some of the other cases so it was incredibly important to me to go with someone I could trust,” Ms Mercouris said.
Central Coast mum Brittany Maher, 26, also had a breast augmentation this year with Hunter plastic surgeon Dr Nicholas Moncrieff. Ms Maher agreed it was important not to go to the “cheapest option”. “I did hear a lot of people going to cosmetic surgeons because they’re cheaper, but I wanted to make sure I was going to someone who would do the best job,” she said.
WHY SYDNEY DOCTOR IS A WAKE-UP CALL
A WESTERN Sydney GP has come under fire for waking patients up in the middle of cosmetic surgery to check if they were happy with their breast implants.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a “checklist” which reveals Dr Les Blackstock of Enhance Clinic Emu Plains has been giving patients arithmetical questions in the middle of surgeries to check cognition before asking them if they are happy with their implant sizes.
The Daily Telegraph has also been told in some cases patient’s partners have even been asked to come into surgeries to see what they think of the size of the breast implants. The GP has also been giving patients a form to sign that states he might have to answer phone or video calls from nurses administering Botox during the theatre.
It comes after The Saturday Telegraph revealed Enhance Clinic had ignored orders from NSW Health to stop performing breast augmentations in an unlicensed clinic.
Former patient Michelle had two surgeries with Dr Blackstock — a breast augmentation and another surgery last year after her first implant ruptured.
She said she was left with an infection after the second surgery and had to have the implants removed in an emergency operation. Plastic surgeon Dr. Rohit Kumar of Sydney Cosmetic Sanctuary performed corrective surgery on the woman and said he was “extremely concerned” Dr Blackstock had been “waking patients” up mid-surgery.