False Advertising I: Consumerism

My blogs this week will be a series of three inputs, all connected, about consumerism and advertising with regards to sexism.

One of the questions we were given the choice to answer/ talk about was the one that stated: "What sorts of societal tensions do current advertisements seek to heal?". I found this question interesting both intrinsically and because of the discussions the class had about cultural branding in relation to societal tensions. However, I would like to see this question from the opposite angle: "What sorts of societal tensions are being ignored and/or exacerbated do to current advertisements?"

Recently, Reebok has come out with a new shoe (The EasyTone) that is said to "lift your butt and tone your legs". Alone, the claim is perfectly acceptable but paired with the advertisement below, it does two unfortunate things-- objectifies women and their bodies and tells them that what they need to look like or what they should look like, are the women in this commercial.

When I first saw this commercial, among the three others that I have seen

regarding the same issue, I was appalled. Firstly, because I cannot believe that

companies are allowed to run such sexual ads that are inappropriate for the majority

of viewing audiences i.e. Teen boys and girls, pre-teens, and children under the age of 12.

Secondly, because I assumed that women would refuse to let their bodies be objectified and

used as ways to make money.

The commercial is so blatantly using women as objects that I first thought it was a joke.

I thought that no woman, thinking clearly and sanely would involve herself in the kind of bigotry

and sexism that this commercial displays. How did we let advertisers get to the point where

they think that this is the kind of advertising we will respond positively too? Unfortunately, they

know that it will be popular because they know that they can brainwash women into believing that

if their butt or legs don't look like the ones they see in these types of advertisements, then there is

something wrong that needs to be corrected. Furthermore, it endorses provocative and unbecoming

behavior: "It will make men speechless and women jealous". As competant human beings we should

be able to say that this is unacceptable but as consumers we are driven by either what we feel we don't

have or don't have enough of. Thus consumerism

Below you will see a different commercial advertising

the same shoe. Again, this is another display of how grossly women's bodies are used to grab attention

and sell merchandise.

By watching that commercial you are staring at a woman's breasts for 25 seconds out

of its total length of 32 seconds. As a consumer, I would never buy a product that endorsed

such blatant disrespect of the female body. However, I also understand that it is a widely accepted

belief that women want to look like the women they see on TV because those women are universally

accepted as "beautiful" or "attractive". Furthermore, it is clear that Reebok understands that by

putting out such an ad, they are encouraging women to do what is natural; create an attractive

look to attract the opposite sex and be out other potential mates, as the narrator says "so 88% of men

will be speechless, 76% of women will be jealous." However, the way in which it is done is distasteful

and disrespectful. We must realize that although consumerism is a large part of our lives, we can control

how these advertisements are delivered, and the message they contain.