Have you noticed that every shampoo commercial looks the same? Or that diet product commercials are everywhere at the beginning of a new year? Comedian Sarah Haskins has. And for the past couple of months, she’s produced TargetWomen, a series on Current TV that hilariously and critically examines the advertising world of women’s products.
Haskins’ critiques are among the most comprehensive and on-point ones I’ve seen of how advertisers target women to sell products. She brilliantly tackles shameless themes that pop up in commercials, like ones that sell frozen food (“It is the woman’s job to feed her family,” she sarcastically says. “Just make sure it satisfies EVERYONE”) and ones that sell yogurt (“Yogurt is the official food of women”). There’s an episode about skin care products, and how their commercials always remind us that we’re aging. There’s also an episode about how cars are marketed to women—“We want cars that say, ‘I’m not a mom, I’m a MILF,’” Haskins says bitingly, alluding to the images of middle-aged women rolling up in their Lincolns with all the gas station attendants staring her down.
Check out this one about women in cleaning product commercials:
Haskins doesn’t let anything in an ad pass her by without mocking it, and she has done an exceptional job of calling out these blatant marketing tactics.
After months of tuning into her series, I’ve noticed that, instead of passively watching T.V. commercials while patiently waiting for my show to return, I’ve become increasingly critical of commercials and their brazen schemes to trick women into feeling they need a product.
Next episode I’d like Haskins to do? One that tackles that “dreadful” feeling women are supposed to feel right as summer starts. Wal-Mart and Nivea are two companies this season I noticed that use that “Uh, oh, summer’s here” theme to convince us we better buy diet products or use cellulite cream. They put skinny actresses in their commercials that either open their top drawers to find their swimsuit lying there, or walk by store windows with bikini-clad mannequins and suddenly have that “it’s that time of year again” moment. Sarah Haskins, I’d love to see you ridicule these guys!
What do you think of Sarah Haskins’ Target Women series? Has she changed the way you watch commercials in between your favorite shows? Let us know in the comments, and let us know what other stale theme you have seen used over and over in commercials!
Take a look at this segment that aired on Good Morning America on June 15th. The piece is called “Young, Fat, and Fabulous,” and it seems to advocate for women to have a healthy self-image at any size, but the message may not be so clear…
Did you notice the uneven general tone of this segment? Is it positive or negative?
This segment seems to flip-flop between supporting women who are happy and healthy at any size and then in a negative tone also highlights all the dangers the show’s producers believe are associated with obesity. Although these women have a clear bill of health from their doctors, at the end of the segment, Diane Sawyer tries to emphasize that they will have health complications later on… but if you listen carefully, the response is that these health risks increase due to age, not due to weight.
The piece talks about yo-yo dieting while at the same time sending a yo-yo message.
The first half of this segment is dedicated to telling viewers that being fat is OK and that these particular women are happier and healthier than they’ve ever been. Then the last half sends the opposite message — that being overweight leads to deadly health problems. Yet then they go on to say that yo-yo dieting is bad because it can also lead to terrible health complications.
I think this is reflective of our society’s overall indecisiveness about weight and health, and represents the tension that exists between wanting to be thin and wanting to be healthy and happy and love ourselves as we are.
Is it OK to be fat and fabulous? Can you be overweight and be healthy?
According to the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH), health is measured by many factors, including the right to be peaceful in one’s body.ASDAH has also done research that shows that the amount of fat on a body is a weak indicator of life expectancy and overall health.
Despite its mixed message, once you sort through the confusion, this piece does have some healthy points to take home:
Health comes in different sizes.
Acceptance of one’s body type can ultimately prove beneficial, especially when that acceptance is paired with a healthy lifestyle.
As Gabrielle mentions, the most important thing is to stay active, eat a balanced diet, and accept your weight where it stabilizes.
I think it’s fabulous that Marianne loves what she sees when she looks in the mirror. How many women of any weight and body type can actually say they love how they look? I hope that one day every woman will love herself as she is. No woman’s self worth should be determined by the scale or the size of her pants.
So I commend Marianne for telling the world that:
The good in accepting being large far outweighs the bad.
and
The only thing I’ve let go is the self-hatred that I felt.
Shouldn’t we all try to feel that way?
-Jaimie
[By the way, everyone, the fat activist movement is not a new grassroots movement. Fat activism has been alive and well for at least 15 years. Check out this site, Fat!So? for more. -Jennifer]
The computer company Dell has recently come under fire for a new ad campaign aimed at women and has taken interesting actions in response. The controversial campaign, called Della, is mostly an advertising push for a range of computers that have fancy graphic designs on their lids.
Yay! Our laptops are pretty!
The Della web site shows different women using Dell computers that match their outfits — apparently every woman’s dream. The web site talks up the computers by discussing features like diet-tracking tools and the fact that the computer can fit in your purse. This is all written in a tone that tries to replicate a conversation between girlfriends, but it borders on condescension.
Now, I’m the first to admit that when looking for a new computer, the fact that computers can come in different colors was appealing. However, this is not something that is exclusively appealing to women. Not to mention the fact that processor speed, memory, and price are more important than color-coordinating one’s computer with her sweater. By underestimating women’s computer literacy and use of a computer, Della really shows a lack of respect for women computer users.
In spite of the fact that most of the information on the web site was about color choices and carrying bags, there is a Featured Artist page to draw in the women consumers. The connection between computers and the artist on the Featured Artist section can be somewhat of a mystery. Not long ago, in the Della Lounge section of the Featured Artist page, visitors got tips on vintage shopping from the author of Practically Posh: the Smart Girls’ Guide to a Glam Life. It leaves me asking What does this have to do with computers?
Dell made a mistake when they based a whole advertising campaign on the idea that women will buy anything if it’s pretty and comes with accessories. While Dell was making assumptions about their women customers, they inadvertently offended and lost some of their target audience.
With in the past few days, Dell changed some of the Della web site’s more demeaning aspects due to the strong responses of the web site’s visitors. The web site’s language is less condescending to women and now uses a more neutral tone and language that may apply to more people. In addition to this change in tone, the Featured Artist section introduces us to the woman behind the designs on some of the Dell computers, with a clear connection to the computers themselves. Because of their outspoken customers, Dell was able to recognize and rectify their mistake.
Although I wouldn’t say Dell’s campaign is now perfect, it is encouraging to see that they actually listen to their target audience. Web site visitors can leave their comments on the different sections for everyone to see (you can too if you go to their web site). Many of the comments are harsh, the fact that they have left those comments up for the public to see is a kind of apology. This, to me, shows progress.
It is sad to say, but when most women hear the words “beach season,” we brace ourselves to feel bad about our bodies. This is something I have come to expect from women’s magazines and diet-pill commercials, but I didn’t expect Oprah to join in with a swift kick to women’s body image.
On Oprah’s web site there is an article titled Summer Body Shortcuts. As the word “shortcuts” implies, all of the suggestions on the list are cosmetic surgery. They suggest everything from breast implants and tummy tucks to porcelain veneers and Botox. Some procedures aren’t even FDA approved, and still the reader is corralled into thinking “I could use that…”
Oprah Approves Botox Injections
It is disheartening to see Oprah put up things like this on her website. She has an extremely large following of devoted fans who excitedly watch every episode of her show to see the next “must-have.” For someone who has had her own public body image issues, it is surprising that she would help foster body insecurities in this way. I think it is incredibly irresponsible of Oprah to tell women their bodies aren’t good enough as-is.
We need to stop looking at our bodies as something to be fixed and stop listening to people, like Oprah, who tell us we aren’t perfect by telling us how to “fix” our bodies. Instead of constantly picking apart body “flaws” we need to refocus and set our sights on becoming comfortable with our bodies the way they are.
Here are tips to love your body WITHOUT expensive, risky, and unnecessary cosmetic surgery:
Cut out the negativity and make a pact with your friends to only say good things about your bodies.
Write a list of things that you like about yourself (i.e. your hair or sense of humor) and pin it up on your bathroom mirror. Then read it while you brush your teeth in the morning. Reminding yourself of how great you are will put that little extra spring in your step.
When you are hanging out with your friends, notice all of the different ways to be beautiful (i.e. a person’s boisterous laugh or their loving nature). Remember that people are not meant to look exactly the same. Variety is the spice of life!
Go for a walk outside. The combination of the fresh air and the light work out can really boost your overall mood.
Walk around your house in your underwear or bathing suit. This can help you to become comfortable with your body. The more comfortable you are with your body, the more confident you will be when at the beach.
CHALLENGE: Come up with more ways to feel good about your body and share your ideas with the About-Face community by writing them in the comments for this blog!
You can also share your thoughts on the Summer Body Shortcuts article with Oprah by emailing her: click here.
2008 Grand Prize Winning Poster by Whitney Calvert
The National Organization for Women(NOW), is running the Love Your Body campaign. Each year, NOW hosts a poster contest that promotes healthy body image and “the grand-prize-winning poster will be used as part of a national campaign to challenge the media’s use of violent, drug-addicted, starved, surgically enhanced images of women and to fight against industries that profit from women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies.” Entries for the 2010 contest are being accepted now and are due by December 1, 2009. The poster contest has different categories: All, University Students, College Students and Middle & Elementary School Students. You can find out more about the contest by clicking here.
The NOW web site has a gallery of past poster contest winners and runners up dating back to 1999. Their beautiful pieces of artwork are also available to send as e-cards. Recently I sent the 2005 winner to a group of my favorite girlfriends and they loved it. Check out the past Elementary School winners. They are amazing and their artwork sends clear, healthy messages. It’s heart-warming to see children take action against the media’s harmful messages. I encourage all of you to take action and submit a poster.
-Sonnet
Sonnet Harrison is a preschool teacher and nanny who studied Psychology and Child and Adolescent Development at San Francisco State University. In her free time, she works on a web site, www.favoritenanny.com, with other San Francisco nannies and is setting up a professional development support group which matches nannies with families without going through agencies. Sonnet became interested in volunteering with About-Face after working with teenage girls in a group home.
While I often feel “above” the media’s messages, the truth is that I’m only human. And while knowledge is power, this power doesn’t always grant me immunity to the media’s toxicity.
One of my many personal vices is my unwavering devotion to W magazine, which I’ve read since I was the all-too-young age of twelve. Once the magazine was in our possession, my sister and I would lay it flat on the living room floor and drool over all the colors and patterns until our eyes crossed.
Little did we know that these images would impact the way we viewed our own beauty–indefinitely.
To this day, I still squeal with delight every month when my W comes in the mail. Consequently, I still battle the inevitable self-doubt and borderline self-loathing that comes after two hours of staring at heroine chic models in $45,000 mini dresses and heels that threaten to break my ankles just looking at them.
Sometimes I have to take action against these insecurities, lest I sulk myself down to “unpretty” levels (yes…I’ve been listening to a lot of the group TLC lately). Here are some ways I counterbalance my media-induced funk, and my advice to you as well:
Step outside of your head…and home: Pull up a chair outside your favorite coffee shop and just watch the passers-by. Make note of how many variations of pretty walk past – you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Walk it off: Set your headphones to your most empowering tunes and take a stroll. The physical activity alone will raise your endorphin levels while the music provides some much-needed catharsis.
Re-pretty-fy: If you’re a girlie-girl, get a little dolled up, meet up with some good friends and let their love and appreciation remind you of your beauty, both inside and out.
Each of these activities is a quick and easy way to remember what real-life beauty can consist of. What do you do to remind yourself of your beauty and worth? The About-Face community looks forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences, so please, share away!
-Corinne
Corinne Avganim is a freelance events and public relations manager with a passion for child and community development. Having grown up in the “Heart of Screenland” (Los Angeles), she immediately recognized the necessity of the About-Face mission and is honored to have joined such a dedicated team of beauty revolutionaries.
I am so happy that Scarlett Johansson decided to take action against the media’s obsession with unhealthy, ultra skinny bodies!
Scarlett Johansson just wrote a fantastic article called “The Skinny” for The Huffington Post.Her article responds to media coverage that claims she is on a crash diet to lose 14 pounds for her upcoming film Iron Man 2. Scarlett Johansson supports having a healthy body image and in her article writes:
I’m a petite person to begin with, so the idea of my losing this amount of weight is utter lunacy. If I were to lose 14 pounds, I’d have to part with both arms. And a foot. I’m frustrated with the irresponsibility of tabloid media who sell the public ideas about what we should look like and how we should get there.
Way to go, Scarlett! She is definitely on the team of About-Face winners. Please click here to read the whole article.
My mother has always called high heels “modern-day foot binding.”Foot binding was a practice in China to wrap, bend, and even break women and girls’ feet to keep them small so the feet would be perceived as more appealing.The damage was extensive, and many women were permanently disabled.Although the damage is less severe with high heels, the principles are the same.
Now a company called Heelarious is selling high heels for infants 0 to 6 months.This product is marketed as a joke but there are very real implications and consequences of having these shoes in the world.In addition to grooming babies into the painful practice of wearing these types of shoes, creating versions of very adult products for very young girls is very problematic.Women’s high heel shoes are made to accentuate certain aspects of women’s bodies to make them “sexier” (i.e. flex one’s calf; make one’s butt stick out, etc.).Do we really want to sexualize our 4-month-old babies with these shoes?The animal prints the baby shoes come in only exacerbate the sexual connotations.
Want to take action?You can e-mail the company at sales@heelarious.com, or call them at (425) 646-HEEL. You can also contact Lindsay Lefler, the Vice President of Corporate Communications at 913 S. Mansfield Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036, or at lindsay@distinctiveassets.net.There is also a way to e-mail through the website.
On the About-Face web site (that is, on this blog and elsewhere on our site), we talk about a lot of ads and other media that require action from consumers. But when we say “write a letter or e-mail,” what does that really mean? I used to think about what I would say for so long that I’d never write the letters. Those days are over for me, but a lot of people don’t know what to say to these companies. Here are some tips. For an example, check out the comments in the Dairy Queen post.
(If you’ve written a particularly good complaint letter that follows these suggestions, please post it in the comments below!)
How to Write an Effective Complaint Letter about an Ad or Other Media
Opening paragraph
Say why you’re writing. Specify the ad or other media (use the name of the ad if you know it)
Write one VERY SHORT sentence about your problem with the ad
Briefly say what your action is going to be (see below)
Following paragraphs
Go into more detail about why the ad is problematic for you, for society, for women, for men, for people of color, or whatever. Be productive and descriptive. Do not say “I think” or “I believe” or “I feel” — be strong! Do not go off on a rant, even if you are angry. You will be dismissed as a crazy person if you do rant, and the company will not read your letter or take it seriously.
Tell them again what your action will be. Always say you will not buy their product until the ad is “pulled” (no longer published, on TV, etc.). Even if you were not a customer before, tell them you were a formerly loyal customer. If you’re planning to stage a protest, say that, but don’t state the date.
State what the company will need to do to earn your business back. Issue an apology in a press release? Pull the ad from TV/radio or magazines, or take the billboard down?
Tell the offending company you will spread the word to other customers and to all your friends and acquaintances. Then go send your letter in an e-mail to all your friends, post it on your MySpace or Facebook page, etc. and urge your friends/family to take action too.
Sign your real name and write your city and state below your name.
Take more advanced action
If you have more time and/or incredible amounts of ire about your ad/media, here are more steps you can take that will make a difference:
Send the letter/e-mail to the ad agency that created the ad. Find out who the agency was and send them the letter as well. Do not call them. Why? The advertiser (company whose products are being sold) made the final decisions about the ad’s content. It’s hard to tell how much was the advertiser’s doing and how much was the agencies’.
Use more modes of communication. Make phone calls and write a real, paper letter too (not just an e-mail). Media outlets pay attention to this stuff!
Send it to the editorial body. If the ad was on TV, send a letter to the TV station or cable channel, and specify the date you saw the ad and what show was on. Similarly, if the ad was in a magazine, pull out the ad and mail it to the magazine with your letter. Send it to the editor-in-chief and also the sales director. (When I was a magazine editor, our readers opinions mattered more than you want to know.)
Post a flyer on or near the local retail store of the business that details the problems with the ad. Again, use productive communication.
When you’re done
Once you write your super-cool, pointed letter, just save a copy and change it a little each time you come across an ad. Make it easy for yourself to write these suckers!
Why complain in the first place?
Here’s why: It makes a difference, even if you never get a response. When a company’s sales go down, the people at the company wonder why that’s happening. You want to hit them over the head with a hint so they will change their tactics. Also, remember that consumers have the most power over companies, since, as a for-profit corporation, their main concern is — duh — profits. When we don’t buy the products, the companies have less money and thus less advertising power. And, when you raise a stink (even a little stink), companies get humilated, which is usually the only way to get them to change.
Again, I hope you’ll post your greatest letter in the comments below. And let us know other tips that have worked for you!
