Are women's commercials promoting beauty equality legitimate

[10sthai]

Lately, I feel like every commercial that I see is an advertisement for women’s beauty products. This isn’t unusual, nearly a third of all TV commercials are geared towards women. However the advertisements as of late, are a little different than normal. You’ve all seen them. The Dove commercials about body equality, the Secret deodorant commercials about women in the workforce, the tampon commercials about gender inequality…they seem to be everywhere: advertisements that look like really important, really inspiring PSA’s on the surface—until you realize that they’re promoting a product. The public has been obsessing over these videos lately, especially the “Like a Girl” campaign that ran during the Superbowl. However, I don’t quite give in to the hype. Every time one of these commercials comes on, I feel a little cheated. I think that it’s great that these kind of body-positive/feminist messages are being put out to the world, but why do they all end with a slogan and the name of a brand on our screens? Why do they all have to be promoting something? I’ve realized that the act of making these kinds of commercials has become so popular, not because it’s a nice way to educate others, or to spread a nice message to girls around the country, but because every women’s beauty/health company is trying to compete with each other. It feels like these companies don’t truly want girls to know how beautiful they are, but instead, they want to see how much their sales will rise if they play towards a cause they know the audience will eat up.



This makes me upset, because having open discussions about body image, self-worth, feminism, etc. is something that should be a constant part of our lives, and shouldn’t only be brought up as a means for product-pushing. And since these commercials are for women’s products, it completely isolates the audience that these messages are going to. Think about it, how many men do you know who will sit and absorb a tampon commercial? My bet is not many. We should be spreading these messages to all people, and making sure that all genders are interested. By only spreading these videos through commercials, we diminish the value of what they are trying to say, and diminish the value of women’s insecurity to something that can fit in a two minute video on your screen.



What do you guys think? Have you ever felt this way towards these commercials? Do you love them? Hate them? Have you noticed them at all?

[3ajesse]

I feel the same way! I noticed that the ads have became more pro women but it feels like its just so that they can please the females in order to sell their products. It makes sense that you would want to promote your product by advertising to them but I hope they aren't or wouldn't do this just for that reason alone. It makes it seem pointless and unprogressive for the country to be doing this to just please the women but that really feel this way. The "like a girl" ad has children in it promoting this product which makes it personal so that we understand that they feel this way but if it just for the money our society hasn't progressed at all which is really disappointing.

[6mhalle]

Personally, I usually enjoy these types of commercials, simply because they are a refreshing difference from the usual sexualized images of women in the media, especially on television and in commercials. This commercial, however, I don't enjoy as much. To me, it seems as if it's speaking down to women in a way. Also, at the end of the commercial, you realize that it was really made with the purpose to promote a product, not really to make women feel better about their bodies, which makes me feel somewhat used. The media is appealing to a women's sense of insecurity with their image, which to me seems like a manipulative way to sell a product.

[3akaidya]

    I can see why this may upset you, and you make a very valid point when you say that these commercials are only made to increase the company’s sales. However, I believe that because the commercials overall message is positive, and is trying to help women find beauty in themselves, there is no reason why we should have a problem with it. I think these commercials are very empowering for women, and shows women that they do not have to look like models to be beautiful. Also, we should appreciate the fact that well respected companies like Dove have the power to make a difference in the way we see beauty, even if their ultimate goal is to have an increase in sales. We should be focusing on the commercials that are actually degrading to women, instead of judging commercials that have actually made women feel better about the way they see themselves.

[3UIfeoma]

I like the idea of the positive message that companies like Dove promote. However, I am on the fence, because on one hand, all the points you made were right; they ARE promoting themselves in these campaigns, and may not even truly CARE about women feeling equal, beautiful and comfortable in their own skin. They very well may be trying to capitalize off the new trend of people becoming outspoken and fighting for social advancements (which they probably are). On the other hand, I think we should try and be happy that commercials like these even exist at ALL, because they could have taken the typical route most advertisers take. They could have tried to promote the idea that we need to be "sexy", and implemented the common idea that our worth correlates to how appetizing men find us. So, while it is unfortunate that they may or may not be simply trying to sell us a false image, its at least good enough that the image they DO give us is genuinely positive and can positively impact women.