did you know?

[slickgothgurl]

the company (Unilever) that manufactures and brands Dove soap, also manufactures and brands Slim-fast?

if it were just soap, i probably wouldn't be bothered so much, but the whole new Dove campaign is basd around "Real Beauty", that knowing that they also make millions of diet products is a little off-putting.

thoughts?

Comments

[rubicat]

capitalism = might as well get all audiences regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

hypocritical? oh, yeah.

[slickgothgurl]

yes. very hypocritical.

[retromoderngirl]

Damn, that sucks.

[slickgothgurl]

yeah

[brigid]

slim fasts ad campaign is very reasonable though, they seem to promote getting down to the weight that is healthy for the individual, not a size 0.

i mean, in all sincerity, after having gone through utter hell with my dad and his life threatening heart problems (the majority of which can be attributed to the fact he's been overweight for the bulk of his adult life) i don't think it's -wrong- to promote that people strive to attain a healthy weight for the sake of being healthy, not so much for social acceptance. the last few slimfast ads i've seen have seemed to center around people who are quite obese working to get down to weights that honestly could be considered slightly overweight...

that said, both are simply marketing campaigns, they aren't political statements. they play on emotions by targeting a demographic that is traditionally ignored by the media and considered insecure enough to appreciate the positive spin, even though it's really just bs.

[slickgothgurl]

but it's still one product telling women that they are beautiful at any age/size and another telling them that they could be more beautiful if they just lost weight. and the sentiments are coming from the same mouth, essentially. i realize they are both simply marketing campaigns but it's totally hypocritical.

i'm not sure what slim fast ads you're seeing on tv, but the ones i see don't feature anyone "quite obese". the ads that are running now don't show a before or after photo/video, only headless, curvy bodies. and those bodies are far from quite obese. in my opinion, they all look pretty healthy. unless there are commercials i'm just not seeing...

[apogeeperigee]

I will have to agree with you on this.

First and foremost, they are ad campaigns for the sole purpose on manipulation to purchase a product. The end goal is money/profit.

That being said, the slimfast ads have never been overly unrealistic or offensive to me. Their product has some nutritional merit (not like a pill that is mostly jacked up caffeine/other stimulants and shows a cg overweight woman walking through a grocery store in her underwear being ridiculed) and really isn't harmful. Some of their ads have also advocated exercise, etc which are key in any attempt to lose weight.

As far as ad campaigns go, both of these products are some of the least harmful/offensive out there. (No, I do not use either product/s)