Most everyone loves M&Ms. They’re delicious, colorful, melt-in-your-mouth goodness… Right? That was my opinion, until I realized just how sexist the characterization of America’s favorite candy really is. Sexism comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be as prominent as the wage gap or as subtle as the words “manmade” or “mankind.” It’s important… Continue Reading →
PETA – People for the Egregious Treatment of Adult (Women)
You’d think an organization like PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — would be a proactive organization, readily supporting healthy, happy agendas to get people living healthier lifestyles. Right? Wrong. PETA is one of the worst culprits of objectification and sexualization of women. Somehow, PETA tries to equate pornographic images of half-naked… Continue Reading →
Geico’s new commercial makes it even more normal for popular girls to not eat
“It’s funny because it’s true,” is a common adage following the telling of many jokes. The familiarity of the characters in the latest Geico commercial, teenage girls, are likely to incite a lot of snickering for this very reason. Of course, despite these laughs that Geico hopes for (and likely will get), I’m worried about… Continue Reading →
LG Kompressor Plus: Is it funny to vacuum someone’s fat away?
The marketing masterminds employed by LG to sell their Kompressor Plus vacuum are coming up short with this commercial attempting to showcase the superior suction properties of their product: [media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biym0whZK4A”] This clip rates high in the shock-value department, but the benefits highlighted in it are not those one would typically associate with a household… Continue Reading →
Kellogg’s Special K tells women their lives could be better, if only they were thin
Given that Kellogg’s Special K basically markets itself as a diet food, my expectations for their advertising campaigns were already low. However, they have really outdone themselves with their new campaign, based around the question: “What will you gain when you lose?” In the commercials, women stand on bathroom scales that reflect buzzwords back at them:… Continue Reading →
Fotoshop by Adobé will solve ALL your beauty problems.
Back when I was an editor at a tech magazine in San Francisco and Adobe representatives would come to demo the newest version of Photoshop, I found myself thinking, “Wow, women just Photoshop themselves every day — except it’s called makeup and cosmetic surgery.” In short, tech was imitating life. The maker of this satirical… Continue Reading →
Does eating Dove chocolate really have to involve “confession”?
On rare occasion, the media isn’t blatantly in-your-face sexist, racist, or ageist. In fact, it’s the more subtle messages, especially those which appear to be about female empowerment, that are harder to scrutinize. Take this Dove® chocolate commercial, for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUBchloHPmM
Will male objectification persuade us to check our breasts?
Rethink Breast Cancer harnesses the power of viral advertising with their new app, Your Man Reminder, but is objectification ever OK? In the promo ad, a doctor admits that since “studies have shown that women are more likely to watch a video if it features a hot guy”, he can’t discuss breast cancer with the… Continue Reading →
Cheerios trades whole grains for less you
General Mills is the latest brand giant to jump on the correlation bandwagon, linking consumption of MultiGrain Cheerios to weight loss and size reduction. A recent Cheerios commercial features a run-in with two women at a clothes donation drop box. The first female praises her friend’s weight loss and appearance. The pal attributes her svelte… Continue Reading →