Original Advertisement
Advertisement Analysis
This is a Bulgarian beauty ad that was printed in 12 Magazine in 2012.
It is wrong by two different accounts. First of all, it is offensive to women who are victims of domestic abuse. Violence against women should not be taken so lightly that is featured in an ad for beauty. Domestic abuse is not something that should be normalized and this advertisement perpetrates the normalization of domestic abuse. The image could be a potential trigger for women who went through awful abuse experiences. A message this violent image relays is that women deserve physical abuse.
The second way that this advertisement is offensive is how it implies that women need to be victims of beauty standards and that it is okay that women are succumbed to the crippling pressures of “looking perfect.” It suggests that women should be crushed by society’s beauty standards and that women should go through pain to achieve this beauty.
Despite the ad’s best attempts of making this model “ugly,” they picked a white woman who is conventionally attractive, and she is still photoshopped heavily, with flawless makeup and perfectly coiffed hair. She also has high cheekbones and is skinny.
Instead of promoting how unrealistic beauty standards should be abolished the creators of this ad are bowing down to these standards but feature them in an even more negative manner. They are not featuring body positivity nor diversity. The ad suggests that women are weak beings and deserve to be punished. In no way does this ad support the empowerment of women.
Jammed Advertisement
Jammed Advertisement Analysis
In my jammed ad, I changed the phrase “victim of” to “abused by” as women are “abused” by beauty standards around the world. I added the syringe, bandage and plastic surgery lines as unrealistic beauty standards are pressuring more women into changing their appearance by going through such procedures. In most advertisements we see, the women featured are essentially perfect because of all the photoshop present. You rarely see any wrinkles or acne being present on the women’s faces. There is also hardly much representation for women of colour, transwomen, women with physical or mental disabilities or other minorities.
There are constant advertisements for detox tea and lip pumping lip gloss that are targeted at women in order to lose weight and attain the “perfect pout.” In modern society you cannot be fat or aging, your skin cannot be too dark or too pale and having scars is taboo.
Instagram “influencers” are idealized and looks are valued to be more important than other personable qualities such as generosity, intelligence, patience or kindness. Constantly comparing ourselves to these edited social media stars will make us feel worse off about ourselves.
In the jammed ad I intentionally wanted to have a shock value as I believe it is important to highlight the absurdity of these beauty standards. If more people think that these standards are absurd, then eventually society will place less pressure on women on unattainable appearances in the future. This will lead to women to truly loving themselves and believing in body positivity.
Women should not feel the need to fit in the conventional mold of beauty as they are all beautiful inside and out.