I found the post (linked to above) very intersting in looking at both unethical marketing, and how makreting can have an impact not only on the product being aimed at consumers, but also on the consumers frame of mind.
I feel it particularly relates to the lifestyle of the individuals and their self perception. For some people I believe that they will be able to see ads like the calvin clien jeans one, and see the product as purely a par of jeans, but then there are so many more impressionable people who will see that the jeans will make then more attractive to boys… but they indeed have to look like the model, who is skinny and attractive. This ideal that more and more marketers are using in thier campaigns is influencing more and more people, and not always in terms of selling more products, but my making them change themselves to fit what the product portrays.
Obviously there is a reason why marketers use these ads, in order to grab peoples attention, and indeed they do manage that, but should it be down to them to ensure they don’t influence peoples self perceptions into losing weight and acting out in potentially dangerous ways, or should we as the consumer be able to see past the models and only focus on the product they are trying to sell us.