Counter-Marketing
02Jul08
I came across this today and was pleased by its contradiction of what’s “sexy” in American culture.
And for those who don’t know, this is referencing a movie called “American Beauty” where the sex appeal of the movie was a skinny Mena Suvari.
Filed under: Celebrities, Movies, People | 17 Comments
Tags: ads, advertising, american beauty, marketing, mena suvari, Movies, self esteem
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Wow… seeing the two images right on top of each other is strange… because I do find the upper photo more attractive than the lower photo. You don’t often find full figured nudes anymore. Naked, sure – nude, no.
Though she’s still seriously air brushed.
The top photo is absolutly beautiful! Being a “plus-sized” woman myself, I’m so releaved to see a full figured woman in a sensual position rather than a humerous one!!
love it!!
Wow, the point the counter-picture makes is ridiculous. The entire theme of American Beauty is the irrelevance of superficial beauty. That’s what makes the skinny and sexy Mena Suvari such a poetic statement. Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly doesn’t appreciate the genius that won an Oscar for best movie.
Chris: No, I think you miss the point of this. It’s not that heavier women are prettier, it’s that personality comes in all shapes and sizes. It wasn’t Mena’s body that made her ugly, it was her personality. This is saying that it’s not the body that makes someone pretty, it’s their personality. And with this particular picture, I see a girl I wouldn’t totally swoon over, but in the context, assume she has a great personality to make her more attractive to me.
I think a better representation would to have had Thora Birch (her “uglier” co-star) as the counter-picture. I think the point would have been more clearer then, especially for those who’ve seen the movie.
American Beauty was an amazing movie, and i agree that personality can increase or reduce attractive qualities of a person.
But i completely disagree about the first image being beautiful due to the resent new found confidence and pride of obese women. They edited the hell out of that image, and now appears a perfectly curved, flat stomached but still pleasantly plump woman. I reject any idea of being a “curvy and proud”, not because i find them unattractive or anything like that, it’s just i see them as unhealthy individuals that should not be glamorized for lack of exercise and balanced diet.
@Nadya: The first girl in the images above is not obese, she’s overweight. With that said, I’ve seen various studies and experiments done that disprove that being overweight doesn’t always equal being less healthy (or less athletic). While I agree that embracing obesity is wrong (I’m big and I’m beautiful mentality), it’s just not the case with the girl shown above.
And of course it’s been edited, but so was Mena’s (the second girl). And while they may have taken away stretch marks, removed a fat roll mark, etc… you can be overweight and tight. As a guy with many girls in his past, I’ve seen it.
M. Wade Nichols :
You cannot tell just by looking at that image if she is obese or not, judging by her short arms I would guess she is not a tall person, thus making it likelier for her to have 30% body fat…
But I agree that overweight people can be very athletic and still be healthy, but not completely. Having excess fat on your body can obviously slow you down externally and internally. I just think it’s important for every person to reach a normal weight, not saying that everyone should look like Mena or a high fashion model, just healthy.
Nadya: I partially agree about making absolute judgments from one picture, but it’s all we hve to go on in this case.
Is over 30% body fat considered obeise? I don’t know the figures, but if that’s the case, then fine- she may be technically obeise. However, in my eyes, from what I can see, she’s just overweight.
Besides, what are you using as a scale of reference to say she is not a tall person- that yogurt cup?
To reach a common ground with you, I’d agree she’s on the upper end of overweight, if that helps. I don’t think anyone should use her or Mena for a frame of reference of what’s healthy- so we agree there too.
I guess my overall point was that height, weight & health don’t always go hand in hand.
M. Wade Nichols :
Hahahahaha
, yeah 30% for women, 25% for men.
okay i agree as well with the latter statement .
i need same one to be my qeen my nomber is 0788268029
so i came across this, i have seen this ad many times but i thought i would let you all know that the translated text for this ad is “Forget about it. Men’s preference will never change. Fit Light Yogurt”…not so beautiful and refreshing.
Don’t you remember the Marilyn Monroe/Barbie argument from middle school health class? The ratio b/w the waist & hips, not the body frame, is what the human mind uses as the “yard stick” to determine the level of attraction. It directly correlates with fertility & health, both in men & women.
Wade and Nadya
One thing i’ve noticed in general (since you guys are arguing about BMI) is that our standards tend to be totally messed up in both directions.
I’m a whopping 17% body fat which is generally considered unhealthy yet i’m much fatter looking then Mena which leads me to believe she is less then 17%.
While i’m not as bit as the girl on the top i do store more fat in my arms then the rest of my body and have large breasts and round hips which tend to make men say that i am “not thin”.
So if at 17% i’m considered generally “not thin” what is our standard of thin? I’ve heard the same things said about some of my other friends that sit in the 18% body fat range, that they are chubby. The new minimum for models is 18.5% for their safety. Are we going to start thinking that all runway models are chubby baced on the new standards?
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