the naked truth about a woman’s body in the advertising world

What is a true work of art? A life giving temple? Can express a physical sense of intimacy, desire and sexuality? Is both delicate and strong? Can make an impression from across the room? (And now can be trimmed/clipped/styled/photoshopped to the desire of the advertising campaign) – the woman’s body!

This is the naked truth about a woman’s body in the advertising world!

Ladies, don’t be fooled about these ads and these opinions of my harsh reality of the advertising world. If you are not aware that there’s ads, billboards, commercials and the like out there to purely sell product – it’s time to wake up!

The Victoria’s Secret ‘Love My Body Campaign’ vs. the Dove ‘Real Beauty Campaign’ have been budded side by side to get scorned and compared over! Is this graphic alone not ridiculous? I’ve seen this posted on many facebook pages and the comments are just too sad to read over! People are seriously comparing which body they prefer or which one they go with! Is this what it comes down to? A competition of photos of women in underwear?

Welcome to the world of advertising! How it works is this: There’s a company, any company with a product or service to sell and they have money! They have a budget which allows them to pay a nice chunk to some hot shot guys at a hot shot advertising agency to come up with a way to SELL more of their stuff! This ‘stuff’ they sell isn’t really the issue here – it could be bleach for your face or your private parts. (Yes, seriously, I’ll reference that below!) What the issue here is “Will it sell?”

Yes it will! There is a lot of psychological research out there about why/when/what we buy out there. It really comes down to the science of the human brain! Crazy stuff, I know. I’ll save that for another day ;) But advertising gurus know this stuff and they also have a lot of creative talent up in their sleeve. They’re not sneaky, they’re just doing their job.

“To put it simply, companies find the best way to connect
with the consumers to purchase their product.”

Let’s go back to Victoria’s Secret and Dove campaigns and throw a few of my own personal theories out there ;)

Forgive my bluntness – it has a point.

Victoria’s Secret : lingerie company, skinny women look best in lingerie, top super models, high advertising dollars go into the ads for best models, best photography (+ retouching) (yup!) Who buys their product, women of all shapes and sizes who want to look better, sexier, prettier. Lingerie is a popular gift purchase for women by men. Therefore they need to appeal to men (even more than to women). What do men like to look at? A sexy, curvy, hot, busty, fit woman ~ obviously! ;)

Dove : bodycare company, women of all shapes and sizes who want to feel good and smell good buy their product. They focus on the ‘real’ woman who isn’t perfect who isn’t a super model. They connect with women on this intimate level with a anti-supermodel campaign that says ‘I’m with you . I understand you. You can be who you are, we are just going to ‘sell’ you ‘real’ bodycare products so you can feel good in your own skin.’ Their photography is simple, the models are styled in plain white underwear to create a ‘natural beauty’ look.

So who wins this race of competing for the best use of the woman’s body to sell product????  They both do!!!

Who is my pick for a better ad campaign???

Victoria’s Secret!!!!

Yes, I love them! I think they do everything right*! A woman deserves to feel sexy and beautiful for herself and her partner. A beautiful set of undies never hurt anyone*, in fact they add a little dash of happiness for any girl – I know so! I am one ;) And no matter what your size, they do have a great variety of flattering styles of bras and bustier sets to enhance ‘what yo’ mama gave you’ ;D

And a sexy girl sporting a cute outfit on her doesn’t make me hate her because she’s skinny…..!!!!! It inspires me to tone up a little more and feel sexy in my own skin. Because I know – If I look better, I feel better. And that does not mean I starve myself to be skinny. I know that the root of being beautiful is eating healthy vitamin-rich real wholefood plant-based foods along with a workout regime that strengthens the body for health not body-image!

So why does Dove get a thumb’s down from me?

Dove is sneaky. Dove knows that the majority of women in North America are not super-model size. They know who their target market is and they are after you – yes, the normal average you (and me). But I’m not buying it! (Literally) I think they mess with women on an emotional level to connect with them, make them feel safe and for you to trust them. ‘Hey, they know me!’ you’re thinking when you see these fun ‘normal’ ladies having fun in this advertisement, right? This is all good stuff  in promoting a beautiful woman. Right? So what’s my issue with this ad and with Dove?

They rely on building the connection so much and building loyal customer base that feels they can trust them – women use their products, they smell and their skin feels great. Their products sell. All good right? No!

Please never develop a trusting emotion to a company that wants to sell a product. That is their goal and only goal. You are tricked! If you think that Dove’s women are more ‘real’ –  you’re fooling  yourself. The girls on both ads are heavily retouched anyway.

So consumer’s beware : Dove’s products are filled with toxins that directly impact the body through the body’s largest organ – the skin! It meets 9 of 12 toxic parameters, including the most serious ones. This product contains a human carcinogen – TRIETHANOLAMINE. This chemical is a direct cancer causing agent! Aside from that, they test these toxic concoctions on animals!

Please don’t judge a product/packaging with your eyes – packaging and advertising lies. (I have a background in this) Judge with your own research, awareness and intelligence – do not trust the companies out there!

And please never judge a woman by her size! This is no competition based on looks but rather how we are inside and how we project on the outside based on health and personality. We are all beautiful, curvy in our own way, full in some places, petite in others ~ and there is no perfect!

“Be inspired that to be beautiful you need to have a physically active lifestyle
and a healthy diet – and as a reward you will look and feel sexy!”

Want to know more?
Some brands and magazines are on a trend to make skinny models look more fuller!

A talent manager told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column: “I have to airbrush clients’ to make them appear bigger and more womanly before I submit photographs. Skinny doesn’t sell.”

A woman’s body in the advertising world has come a long way still. Just take a look at how runway models did look a decade ago:

So is the woman’s body ‘used’ as a selling object? Yes! And how do I feel about this as a woman? That’s a tough one…. having an understanding of how the world runs on $$$ – I feel as though there’s nothing wrong with it as long as no one gets hurt and it remains moral. These women – models choose this lifestyle and they get paid to advertise products they wear. It’s as basic as having a cute smily kid advertising ice cream!?

Question is: How come we, the consumers don’t ask questions about the real product? How come we don’t request more information or do our own research – but get tempted into buying all that’s in front of our eyes?

“My only message in this is to disconnect your emotions from an ad.
Recognize an advertisement from the product,
separate the packaging design from the product itself.
Do not be tempted with what you see but with what you know!”

Do you feel like this just inconveniences you and you don’t have time to do your own homework on all these products? Perhaps it’s an inconvenience, perhaps it’s an eye opener that these companies have no interest in taking care of you or connecting with you other than the form of buying. Perhaps you don’t care you slather cancer-causing chemicals on your beautiful body.

Please share your thoughts on these ads as well as any stories/ feedback you have with product packaging or misleading advertising?

* unsure of the business ethics of VS during production, so my claim isn’t to defend them that they do everything well as I don’t have this info – but as a finished product, fabrics on the skin don’t have a harmful affect like a lotion does.