Culture Jam
Original ad
This is a victoria’s secret commercial advertisement, featuring “body by victoria” collection of bra aiming to have perfect fit, perfect comport, and aiming to be perfectly soft; which is ultimately called the perfect “body”. Each supermodel is wearing a matching bra and underwear set displaying different styles they sell.
The products are specifically being advertised but having those perfect “body” supermodels who are tall, super thin, slim, large-busted and beautiful to show how gorgeous and attractive they would look wearing those bras and underwear. The strategies that are being used here would lead women to think that they will look as good as the models or look better if they wear them. This is brilliant in some ways, but also brutally crucial to women, and it would enlarge their insecurity towards their “imperfect” bodies just because they don’t look as good or they can’t fit in the products.
The elements of the design of the advertisement is supposed to show that the bras would fit perfectly on your body, but with the two-sided meaning title; the perfect “body” and with those supermodels who actually have perfect bodies and who all have similar body shape, height, and weight, the intent of this advertisement trying to convey turns sideway.
Since the target of this advertisement is specifically aimed at women, at different age groups, but mainly at teens and younger adult, I will be addressing few problems on this “damaging” advertisement regarding how the beauty standard is set, how women are being judged based on their appearances, how damaging it is towards objectification and women’s value, also how those kinds of advertisements will promptly affect teenagers and new or younger generations.
Jammed ad
In this jammed version of victoria’s secret commercial advertisement, nothing much is changed since the original advertisement already shows the problems that I want to address. I only changed the different style names (perfect coverage, multi-way, etc.) into the models height and weight (not true) and underlined “COLLECTION” in order to emphasize on the central issues I will mention later on.
In this modern society, social media is the main component on spreading news and information where teenagers and adults receive, absorb and learn from it, causing this crazy peek of narrow standard of beauty. Thus my alteration shows the height and weight of the supermodels demonstrate the beauty standard; tall, slim, thin and pretty. However, this standard reveals a culture image where health problems like eating disorders, unhealthy diet are encouraged. Women are being judged within the tiny frame of beauty, social pressure from males, family, friends and even work place, causing their dissatisfaction, insecurity and low self-esteem towards their own body.
Media environment nowadays have been objectifying and devaluing women and teenage girls, and where “COLLECTION” is underlined in the jammed ad above, I tend to emphasize and exaggerate a little about women being like collections, which shows the objectification of women. Some women are even influenced by this concept that they devalue themselves to please males to get what they want.
Moreover, teenagers and new generation who are growing up in this type of environment tend to learn from their idols, some of them can’t distinguish right from wrong, leading them into unhealthy mindset and body. For male, I wonder and worry about how they would treat women properly and value them for more than just their appearances if they learn from this damaging environment.
Here, I tried to invoke how we should value ourselves and how good our bodies look no matter shape and size by revealing the beauty standard (similar height, weight and body-shape models) is what frame us from our unlimited possibilities in life and to remind ourselves that we are not just somebody else’s’ “collection”, we all should be respected and valued greatly.