Entry #3: Advertising = obesity

Many people are now claiming that advertising can lead to obesity and health problems, especially in children. I'd have to agree with this statement, for a plain and simple reason: I can relate. The whole point of advertising is to convince (or mislead!) the viewer that they want/need/must have the item being displayed. Highlighting the benefits to using this product (ex. showing people enjoying a McDonald's hamburger) will lead people to think, 'I want that too'. And the reason why I can relate to this is because I also experience this feeling when I'm seeing an ad on TV, in a magazine, or on a billboard for something I like. Seeing a close-up of a Coke being poured into a glass, or a hamburger steaming fresh out of the box makes me crave those foods. It's a smart marketing ploy – but also a dangerous one.

Despite these marketing ploys, ultimately it is up to the person themselves to make an educated decision as to what they should and shouldn't buy and eat, all based on their economic status, health, the benefits of that product, and any other rational thought a regular human being would have. We can blame advertising for our obesity, however, it's not McDonald's who are non-consensually shoving hamburgers down your throat.

I do however feel that parents should limit the amount of advertisements (and TV in general) that they let their children watch. Kids are much more easily swayed by commercials and advertising. In order to beat childhood obesity, the parents themselves must take action. Monitor what kind of commercials are being shown to your child and also how much television your child really watches. Inactivity can also lead to a longer term unhealthy lifestyle. Many people today wonder why the new generation is 'obese' and 'unhealthy', but the simple answer is that it lies within us, adults of today, to stop this from happening.

Entry #2: Photoshop – good or bad?

Where do I stand on the use of Photoshop in the media? This is a tough question, seeing as I work in the Graphic Design industry and Photoshop is a big part of what's in my repertoire. On one side, it can be used to create beautiful works of art, photography, and other mediums. On the other side, it gives us an unhealthy interpretation of how people look and should look. So is it right?

Personally, I don't think the issue lies within advertising itself. The retouching of images is a much bigger issue within the fashion and celebrity industry than anywhere else. And specifically, photos of women seem to be a lot more processed and retouched than photos of men. Photo retouching is done on both sides of the gender spectrum, but to be completely honest, there is usually a much larger percentage of women reading fashion magazines and looking up celebrity photos, and women are usually the target audience for these things.

What I feel that we need to do is to protect our youth. Girls, teenagers, even young women can be easily influenced by the media. And they all need to know what's real and what's not. These advertisements are everywhere, literally, and Photoshop is used throughout almost all of them. We shouldn't be worrying about the big picture, but rather the photos which manipulate the human body. For a young girl to see a picture of an anorexic-looking model, and think "that's normal", is not right. For any woman to strive towards looking as thin an 'perfect' as the women shown in the media is not healthy, and frankly just not realistic. No one will ever look like that. Not even the very tiny (and sometimes also anorexic) models and celebrities used in ads are actually that thin, or have perfect complexions, or have no wrinkles, or perfect, full hair. They are all retouched, despite how in-shape they may be or how beautiful they naturally are. Real beauty never seems to be good enough for these ads.

Another important thing to explain to young men and teenagers is that the girls these ads are not real. It is terrible to think that some guys will grow up wanting a perfect model girlfriend, and expect women to strive to look like a celebrity. And men can also take severe blows to their self-esteem. Seeing the muscular, chiseled, and hairless male celebrities in movies and on the runway is not really a realistic example of what men should look like. Depending on body type and genetics, some people will never, ever look like that. But that is rarely explained.

I think that the manipulation of photos can be positive or negative, depending on the subject matter. We as designers have to be careful of what we're editing, and think of how it will effect the real people viewing it. I really applaud Dove's Real Beauty campaigns, and other companies which use minimal retouching of their photos, and try demonstrate real vs. fake. I think Dove is a great example of how we can positively reinforce women in the media and make real women and men feel empowered by their bodies, despite them not being 'perfect'. If more companies can do this, we'll be taking much bigger steps to create healthy depictions of beauty. But it will take a lot.

Entry #1: Sexism in the media

A quick overview: the Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, NS ran these ads for their back-to-school campaign. All of their ads had a similar style as depicted above, and all featured women only. The ads were pulled by the mall after only a week. So many people complained about the ads being sexist, insulting, and demeaning to women that the mall actually issued a formal apology as well as donated $5,000 to an organization which works towards empowering women.

My personal thoughts: do I feel that these ads are sexist? Yes. Do I feel that the mall did the right thing in pulling them and apologizing? Yes, but they shouldn't have run them in the first place. If I was part of the mall's advertising board, and received the proposition to put out these ads, I would definitely voice my opinion and do all I could to make them see that it is wrong. Sometimes I don't understand how these types of things are green-lit.

Despite us living in a (supposedly) modern, forward-thinking world, sexism is still very much prevalent. Some would probably like to argue that with me, but they'd be just as bad as all the others if they can't see that women are still not viewed as equals to men. There is too much ignorance in our world. Think of all the stories you here of rape and sexual assault. How many of those victims are women vs. men? To any women reading this, how many times in high school were you told to change your outfit because it was too revealing? How many times in the workplace are you limited in what you wear? How many times do your family members tell you to 'cover up'? And to all the men out there, how many times has this happened to you? Do you ever feel unsafe in clubs and bars, or social settings? Do you ever fear for your life and your safety whenever you go out drinking?

We live in a society where it's okay to tell a woman to cover herself up, because the men around her will be 'distracted' by her exposed skin and can't get their minds out of the gutter. At what fault is that of the woman? Why should she be punished and judged because the men around her can't control themselves? It's a disgusting way of thinking, and we've been trained to think in this matter because it's been taught to us in high school and at work. And this advertisement is another perfect example of degrading women to the status of less-than-human.

The first thing which comes to mind when reading this ad, is the message "women are stupid". According to this ad, women or girls don't like school and would rather be buying clothes or on Facebook than studying or working towards higher education. The next thing I think of is that this ad makes women seem like objects. I think of this because the ad uses illustrations of women rather than a photograph. This allows the ad to give the women a more 'mindless' feel to them, since they are not real. It's almost as if you can state that women are ditzy and only care about shopping, and it's okay because they're not 'real' women shown. It's still not okay. In fact, it's images like these that make some people believe that women really are stupid, or less than human, and can be treated as such as well. Something like this may not seem like it would be a contributor in rape culture or sexism, but even the smallest things have an impact on the bigger picture.

I feel like the Mic Mac Mall has done what it could in order to apologize for these ads, but the agency which executed and made the ads for them has seemingly done nothing. I would have liked to see them also release a statement or apology for these ads they created, but I doubt that will happen. Hopefully, the more we push these negative images out of our media, the more we can work towards equality for women. It may seem minuscule, but I truly believe that every little change can help.