DATE: Thursday, September 4, 1997           TAG: 9709040436

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A17  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   61 lines

ADS FEATURING DUCHESS OF YORK AND REFERENCE TO PAPARAZZI ARE MAILED OUT

Old Dominion University student Mary Clark hadn't heard from Weight Watchers in at least a year.

But over the weekend, the Virginia Beach woman received a direct-mail brochure from the company that has caused quite a stir nationally - not to mention shaken her up.

The full-color ad features Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, saying that losing weight is ``harder than outrunning the paparazzi.'' Weight Watchers sent out 2 million copies before it could halt its ill-timed advertising campaign.

Fergie's former sister-in-law, Princess Diana, was killed in a car accident Sunday in Paris that police have said may have been caused in part by celebrity photographers giving chase on motorcycles.

The cover of the ad promoting a new weight-loss regimen shows Ferguson sitting cross-legged, smiling at the camera above the paparazzi line.

She became Weight Watchers' spokeswoman earlier this year, and the $10 million campaign featuring her was to be launched with TV ads Monday. Instead, the duchess has flown to London with her two daughters to attend Diana's funeral.

It's unclear how many of the brochures went to Hampton Roads residents, but a company spokeswoman said Weight Watchers mailed 2 million copies nationally.

``Lots went out,'' said Linda Webb Carilli, the company's general manager of corporate affairs. ``I can't honestly say we would choose this as a marketing program.''

Weight Watchers has about 600,000 participants during any given week, she said.

The promotion, however, went to former participants.

The 23-year-old Virginia Beach woman is a senior English major. She will study this fall at Edge Hill University College in England.

While working this week, she has worn a black ribbon. She also has collected press clippings about the car crash for a scrapbook. She said she'll put the Weight Watchers brochure in the book, too.

``The irony,'' she said, ``was just killing me.''

Clark said the piece of mail was the first she had received from Weight Watchers in at least a year.

When she found it, she said, she started shaking.

``I was already stunned and upset about the princess,'' Clark said.

Publicist Howard Rubenstein, whose agency set up the promotional campaign for Weight Watchers, said the brochure was mailed last week, days before Diana died.

``It has a touch of irony that nobody could have predicted,'' he said. ``The duchess certainly is sensitive to the situation, and it's just unfortunate that the mailing went out when it did.''

Ferguson, like Diana, has been dogged by paparazzi. Before her divorce from Prince Andrew last year, she was photographed sunbathing topless while an American lover, financial adviser John Bryan, nibbled her toes at what they thought was a secluded setting. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

A Weight Watchers ad featuring Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York,

was mailed out days before Princess Diana's death. The ad contains a

reference to the paparazzi.

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