Reply to Controversial opinion: Against “Body diversity” in social media ads

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don’t feel bad OP. Most people would agree with you. [/quote]

Because there has been a whole cultural and media blackout on real bodies for decades. No one knows what a real body looks like in the media, and the entire diet, beauty, and fashion industries are pretty much founded on the basis that by showing you women like that, you will be uncomfortable in your body and buy into whatever they’re selling.

You’re uncomfortable because they’ve spent billions of dollars selling you the fact that those 90 pound anorexics are glamourous and their lives are better than yours, not because there is actually anything wrong with “Real” bodies. They’re selling you an ideal, and you bought into it.[/quote]

The term “real body” is offensive. How dare you call someone else’s body fake. [/quote]

Heavily made up bodies that are selectively styled and angled for a photo shoot and then airbrushed or digitally manipulated are fake.

This is why there's such a huge paparazzi industry hawking photos of "OMG look at XYZ supermodel at a private beach, SHE HAS A FOOD BABY AND CELLULITE!!!"

Even the "perfect" bodies we're supposed to covet don't look like that in real life.

It's a creative challenge to portray an aspirational aesthetic while also showing images that represent a broader range of your target demographic. [/quote]

It's not the imperfections that I take issue with, but even this is kind of a slippery slope. Who doesn't like to look their best, and why shouldn't people advertising their products look their best? When you get a professional picture taken, do you not go to a professional photographer who uses flattering lighting and maybe edits the photo to soften the bags under your eyes and bring out your eye color and whiten your teeth and even out your skin tone? Chances are, you do. The photo is still you, but it's a polished up version of you at your best. You don't take a selfie in your bathroom mirror when you wake up in the morning and put it on LinkedIn.

I sort of get why a company would want to use plus size models. It's good marketing when most of the population is obese, and obese women need clothes too. But I would consider clothes for obese women the same way I would consider something like fashionable bedazzled ventilators or insulin pumps. It's a way to make life less bad when you have a health condition. But now every clothing company is marketing medical equipment.

And I hate the concept that "real women's bodies" = overweight women's bodies. Healthy bodies are real too. And if you want to market your products - use people who look healthy and have a good life while using your product.

But then, I'm mean and wrong. There could very well be a marketing research study out there that shows that companies that use overweight models in their ads are more profitable. Let the free market win, I guess [/quote]

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