This is Badvertising, my final assignment for Intro to Mass Media.
The idea for this blog stemmed from a paper I had written for the same class, which was inspired by a Livejournal post I did several months ago on the ad below.
There are several things wrong with the ad, aside from a grammatically incorrect title.
The ad stood out to me because I look similar to the girl in picture #1. I don't think that's a bad thing. According to the media, I'm wrong, and also fat.
Apparently it's easy to lose 5 pounds and look like the second girl, who could have a case of swayback. All I have to do is follow two tips, one of which seems to be "obey." What could the other tip be? "Stop eating"? "Buy Me"?
Look closely. You may also notice the shadows outlining girl #1. This is an attempt to make her appear thicker in contrast to girl #2. Sick, isn't it?
What made me sick was thinking about the other girls who will inevitably view this advertisement. How many will look different from the first girl? How many will proceed to think a negative thought about her body? At the risk of sounding like an after school special, people come in all shapes and sizes, and the media has taught us to disregard that fact of life. It's something we need to gain back if we want to see any improvements in humankind. Is it truly necessary for us to hate ourselves?
What made me sick was thinking about the other girls who will inevitably view this advertisement. How many will look different from the first girl? How many will proceed to think a negative thought about her body? At the risk of sounding like an after school special, people come in all shapes and sizes, and the media has taught us to disregard that fact of life. It's something we need to gain back if we want to see any improvements in humankind. Is it truly necessary for us to hate ourselves?
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