I’ve always had the opinion that advertisements towards women have been degrading. When the typical girl flips through a magazine she will se countless make-up ads that show flawless faces’ that are incredibly unrealistic. As she turns the page she will see a swimsuit ad that has a women who appears to be seven feet tall, weigh barely on-hundred pounds, with flawless skin, and hair that every girl dreams of having. The marketers of these advertisements have only one thing in mind; to sell products, they don’t even consider what these pictures are doing to the young, and normal girls’ minds as they flip through their “Seventeen” magazine.
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| This was an ad in "Seventeen Magizine" in the may/april issue last year. |
An extremely good example of a commercial that is incredibly unrealistic towards what perfume should be about. The commercial is Beyonce’s commercial for “Heat Perfume”. In this commercial she walks out in a racy red dress that shows cleavage and barely covers her hips. In the commercial she sings a love song and walks around in her small dress. At the very end she says, “Feel the heat”, and that’s it. Then a small image of a perfume bottle appears in the screen and a sexy male voice repeats what she says, and it’s over. They barely even show the perfume! So to a thirteen year old girl who sees this on T.V. she now thinks that if she wears the perfume she will look and feel like that, because she feels like she can trust Beyonce, because many girls look up to her successful career and good reputation.
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| Chanel perfume ad in cosmopolitan magizine |
One company that almost every person has heard of, Playboy, has become a national phenomenon. They not only have a mansion to live in but, a magazine, a website, reality TV shows, movies, restaurants, hotels, and their one line of clothing. It’s sad to me that a business that is represents naked pictures of women, porn, and an old man with three girlfriends can be this successful. The popular television show “The girls next door” has attracted over millions of viewers, in different parts of the world. This show was about life at the playboy mansion making it look fun to be in a bikini, pose naked, and always be with men look like the cultural norm. A current article in Cosmopolitan magazine told us some shocking things that we would never have seen on the popular television series. An ex-playboy bunny spoke to interviewers at Cosmopolitan and told them about life in the mansion, she mentions that they could be kicked out at anytime, were spied on, have a 9pm curfew, and could not gain more then a pound. They were also highly recommended to be on birth control. This television shows none of this, and makes many young girls want to be a playboy bunny.
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| Hugh Herfner, the founder of Playboy, with his four girlfriends. |
Although brands like playboy are exploiting women, it would be mean to say that all women’s companies are like this. There is one company that is constantly on television and in magazines showing their “Campaign for real beauty”. Dove, the company known for selling decently priced beauty products has made it their mission for the last two years now to raise women’s self-esteem as stated on their website:
“The Dove® brand is rooted in listening to women. Based on the findings of a major global study, The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report, Dove® launched the Campaign for Real Beauty in 2004. The campaign started a global conversation about the need for a wider definition of beauty after the study proved the hypothesis that the definition of beauty had become limiting and unattainable. Among the study’s findings was the statistic that only 2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful. Since 2004, Dove® has employed various communications vehicles to challenge beauty stereotypes and invite women to join a discussion about beauty. In 2010, Dove® evolved the campaign and launched an unprecedented effort to make beauty a source of confidence, not anxiety, with the Dove® Movement for Self-Esteem.”
In their advertisements they have pictures of women who are the average looking women in all colors and sizes. These women look happy to be who they are and that they do not have to use the expensive products to be happy with who they are.
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| A Dove magizine ad |
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