Short video about advertising distortion for the fashion/beauty industry

[intheflow]

This very short film (less than a minute) really captures the essence of how advertising distorts reality. The campaign is sponsored by Dove soap. It's directed at girl's and women's self esteem issues, but it certainly illustrates a larger overall media problem as well.

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat4.asp?id=6909

[usedtobesick]

1. kind of creepy really

what is the point of their message?

[babylonsister]

2. What you see is not what you get, you can be better, you're not good

enough as you are? :shrug: It seems to be a pretty negative message anyway you slice it.

[zanne]

3. The point is that models are "perfect" just because.....

So much work is done on them. Also, retouching. The average girl can't hope to achieve such beauty, but the ads on television, magazines, newspapers, etc. give the impression that that's what they're supposed to look like. If they don't look like that, there's something wrong with them. Apply a ton of makeup every day, dieting to the extreme, wearing practically nothing and getting breast implants isn't going to turn them into beauties, but somebody makes alot of money pushing the idea that it will.

[intheflow]

4. Feel I have to defend this post.

My SO posted this, was being supportive of me. But it's too early for him to be coherent, apparently. Bring that man some coffee! :rofl:

[wicket]

10. Heh, happens to the best of us!

:D :hangover:

[EFerrari]

5. What a great idea! The model's face looks sort of uptight

and even a little angry at first, then it looks more or less killed into art -- sort of lifeless. Yuck! I wish my nieces could see this.

[blondeatlast]

6. Interesting. I applaud Dove for the "real beauty" campaign.

Women of all shapes, colors, and ages are featured in their advertising, often with very little makeup. Very nice.

They even make a product line called "PRO-aging"--I like that.

I'm a bit of a glamour girl myself, but I don't need cosmetics and clothes to feel good about myself. Sadly, that's not the case for many.

[AngryAmish]

7. So an ad to sell soap criticizes other advertising

Pot meet kettle.

BTW, this whole self esteem thing is a load of crap.

[intheflow]

8. I don't think you can categorically say the whole self esteem issue is crap.

First, you're a male, so what direct, categorical experience do you to back up your claim?

As a 43-year-old woman who has lived all over the country, I can say that I have witnessed some form of self-esteem issue in almost every woman I have met. The pressure to be thin (but not anorexic), beautiful (but not intimidatingly so), and sexy (but not like a whore) is tremendous. Women are constantly judged by their looks in a no-win kind of way that leads many, if not most, US women to have some direct experience with self-esteem issues.

If you want to state your opinion that you think it's a load of crap issue, fine. But absolute statements only serve as flame bait.

[truedelphi]

16. My SO was a counselor at a renowned university

Campus in the SF bay area.

After a six month period of dealing with young women and their issues, he said time and time again "I am so-o glad I wasn't born a woman!"

How can you get good grades at the age of nineteen if you are in this kinda pressure cooker - you must look like a super model, be so skinny you are only eating one good meal every third day, have a great relationship with a young man who is too die for, get on well with teachers, classmates and parents and cultivate a good personality (not easy to have a great personality on 42 calories a day!)

Most nineteen year old guys are not so great that they are to die for - so usually the problems he heard the young women obsess on were
one: their inadequacy in terms of looks
two: their feeling crappy since they weren't in a good relationship

[AngryAmish]

19. Girls are getting good grades at 19

They have much higher average grades across all disciplines in recent years. So horrid images in the media must not be hurting them so much.

Listen: women are not made out of sugar candy. They are tougher than you give them credit for.

[intheflow]

37. They're still getting paid on $.73 to every dollar a man makes

So those good grades aren't exactly helping them, either.

[femrap]

13. Don't you have any?

I assume you are male....you are not judged by your looks as women are. You do realize that, don't you?

Lack of self-esteem (male or female) can be the cause of multiple personal and social problems. Prisons are full of males with low or no self-esteem...displaying violent behavior is 'supposed' to enhance his machismo...at least that is what our culture teaches. Damn shame.

[AngryAmish]

18. I am not judged on my looks as women are, true

However I am judged on other things. As stated above, we all have crosses to bear.

I would like to see 1. a precise definition of self esteem and 2. good studies on how high self esteem makes one a better person. There are studies out there that says bullies and criminals have the highest self esteem. Other studies say the opposite. So the only clear thing from studying self esteem is that we know very little how having either high or low self esteem effects your life. Therefore, any generalizations that are made are bases only on conjecture, prejudice and opinion -- in other words, it is a load of crap.

[devilgrrl]

28. Gee, everyone! Look who's not getting any!!!!

Is that what this is all about? Chicks won't date you - low self-esteem or not?

You sound like a misogynist - a real scary one.

[AngryAmish]

40. It is true chicks won't date me

It seems my wife takes a dim view of my dating other gals.

And why the attack? I hold a view on a subject and therefore my sexual prowess and attractiveness is belittled. Very progressive attitude there.

[femrap]

36. I believe bullies compensate for their

insecurities with bluster. But since you know so much....I guess I'll just leave you to discuss it with yourself.

[noamnety]

9. This is one of the videos my students watch in class

I teach photoshoppery, and while part of the class is knowing how to do these sort of touch ups, part of the curriculum is also the ethics behind what we are doing. Once we get into the more advanced classes, photojournalism ethics and how gender and race is portrayed in the media becomes a more formal part of the program.

It's like I tell them with animation, it's one thing to decide to do animations for Disney - it's a whole other thing to go into it without even THINKING about whether you are promoting ideas like "violence against women is romantic" (Beauty and the Beast). And likewise, it's one thing to know how to airbrush a person. It's another to think about the social implications.

None of this stuff exists without the social implications - including the "pro-aging" line, which sells products - like all products - that are designed to make you look like you haven't aged. There's a reason those products are only aimed at women.

[blondeatlast]

12. Interesting--I was thinking about the ethics of photoshopping just last night.

My thoughts were specifically about photojournalism. I know from experience it is quite common to do some creative cropping, even a little airbrushing, but my experience was many years ago, before the wonders of Photoshop and the ilk.

I mean, I've digitally retouched my own family pictures and in retrospect, I think I sort of "cheated" even though I slightly retouched all of us, even my 10 year old.

Mind that I LOVE the artistic possibilities of Photoshop, but now one can make an almost seamless fake. It's come up so often on DU alone--"Is this pic photoshopped?"

Do you deal with ethics as they pertain to journalism? If so, mind if I pick your brain--as in, are there ethics concerning Photoshop and journalism? (I suppose this is an entirely new thread... :shrug:)

Thanks.

[noamnety]

30. When it comes to marketing, there are no ethics.

But when it comes to photojournalism, yes, there is a code of ethics, and photographers occasionally get fired for violating them. Sometimes they get fired for seemingly benign things - like enhancing the colour of a sunset:

http://blog.photoblogs.org/2006/07/29/photojournalist-fired-for-manipulating-image/

and even removing a pair of blue jeans peeking out from under a sign, because they detract from the focal point, is a big deal: http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2007/04/toledo01.html

If journalists were held to the same standards of truthiness, we'd have a very different world.

We had a huge debate in my class last year about Kevin Carter, and the ethics of intervening in a news story and/or exploiting the victims if you are the photographer. I've been (impatiently) awaiting the release of The Death of Kevin Carter on DVD. http://kevincarterfilm.com/synopsis.html

[blondeatlast]

38. Thank you; very interesting and informative links.

Very telling is the comment from photoblogs about ethics of photojournalism becoming stricter with digital manipulation. As you say, would that the writers and editors held themselves up to the same standards.

I, too, will watch for that video.

[intheflow]

35. I'm so glad to hear this is making it into your classes.

It's good to know someone is teaching this kind of stuff in art classes. I first learned about it in a women's studies course which no men signed up for. You get to influence a better gender split.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

11. If you have pre-teen girls or teen-aged girls in your lives,

you should send them this video. If you're not a mother of a teen-aged girl or a teen-aged girl, you can not possibly understand the pressure that girls have on them to achieve this "faux ideal" of beauty. I have sent this video to my nieces aged 16, 15 and twin 10 year olds. It broke my heart when my sister told me that my 10 year old niece told her that she wanted to go on a diet because she never wanted to be ugly and fat. This 10 year old is underweight as it is! The pressure starts early, from toddler age on. It's a sad statement on society. This video and Dove's campaign for real beauty is about empowering women and girls of every age to be themselves and to understand that every woman and girl is beautiful as they are. Killing our girls from the inside out has got to stop and I applaud Dove for taking the first step in bringing that to light, as should everyone who has a girl that they love in their lives.

[femrap]

14. I wonder who is Advertising Company that

developed this campaign? It is very retro....reminds me of the '60's and '70's when women were encouraged to focus on the inside, not the outside.

Who makes Dove? Off to google.

ETA: It's Unilever....headquarted in Rotterdam, Netherlands and London, England. I didn't think it was an American company like P & G.

[knitter4democracy]

15. My six year old ran into that last year in kindergarten.

And again this year in first grade. *sigh* Other girls were saying that they all needed to stop eating so much, and then when her teachers taught about healthy eating and exercise, she mixed it all up in her head. She's thin for her size and very healthy (especially considering her asthma and how much tv I let her watch :blush: ), and we've had several talks about it. I'm thinking of banning Disney channel from the house--at least PBS shows aren't all about thin girls with glamour looks and huge expense accounts flirting with all the boys.

[Iris]

17. Parroting what their mothers say?

I am often shocked and dismayed at the adult-nature of these self-observations. Of course, I'm not suggesting you have done this. It really only takes one little girl who is a leader to kick the whole trend off.

[knitter4democracy]

25. One of the other girls started it last year.

There was a mean girl group in her class, and we're all still dealing with the fallout. *sigh*

[Iris]

34. damn. It starts early these days. Good luck! n/t

[Fleshdancer]

20. my daughter heard other girls say the same thing in kinder and 1st grade

Like yours, my daughter is in first grade and the first time she ever heard the word diet was last year. I almost fell out of my chair when she asked me what it meant and why did a girl in her class want to go on one.

[knitter4democracy]

27. Mine told me she was on one this year.

Out of the blue. *sigh* We sat down and had a long talk (for her age) about what that means and why she doesn't need that. Man. It just gets harder and harder, it seems.

[intheflow]

21. I have also been shocked by the Disney Channel.

You know, I can appreciate Cinderella for it's (at the time) ground-breaking annimation and in it's anti-feminist historical context from when it came out (1950)--at 43, I can see it as kind of campy fun. But never mind the movie tripe the Disney Channel shows, have you seen their music videos? They are dancing the same sexually suggestive moves as Janet, Brittney, and Christina. Come to think of it, both Brittney and Christina were trained by Disney, on the Mickey Mouse Club. Disgusting!

[knitter4democracy]

26. I've banned it in the afternoon.

Those shows are aimed at teens, and I wouldn't like them for teens. Sexually suggestive, girls dressing like tramps, "school" shows that are all about flirting and making fun of parents and teachers, and the music is no different than anything on MTV (also blocked). The morning shows aren't too bad, but we also talk about what they see and why Mommy gets mad at some things. :)

[noamnety]

31. I was disgusted to see Beauty and the Beast stamps at the post office

My last trip there didn't go so well. The beauty and the beast violence-against-women-is-romantic paraphenalia was in the lobby. With the new postage rates, they didn't have many options yet. I could buy either the nationalistic flag stamps, or the Jamestown genocide stamps.

Guess we aren't mailing anything for awhile - I just couldn't bring myself to get either of those.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

22. That's my sisters focus with her daughters-HEALTHY EATTING

I'm afraid it's an uphill battle, though. She tells them over and over, she just wants them to be healthy. Thank God I have boys! Although there are different pressures to deal with with them. Pressure to be athletic, strong, don't show those emotions,be a "stud", etc., etc.

[uppityperson]

23. That s a really good video, should be seen by all kids starting grade school

Advertising distorts reality. Few could ever be what is considered "perfect" though we all are supposed to strive for this fantasy. Ha. Anyway, I really like how they show the manipulation in this film.

[alfredo]

24. Here's another

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY

[intheflow]

32. Wow, that was a powerful piece.

An creative interpretation of girls' self-esteem issues: always striving, never achieving, finally breaking. Very chillingly portrayed. Thanks for posting, alfredo.

[alfredo]

33. Thanks. It made me sad when I saw it.

[devilgrrl]

29. kick

:kick:

[Karenina]

39. And another

:kick: