Inspired by Sex and the City.
That they responded favorably to this crapola makes me feel more alienated from my sisters than ever. In an attempt to get women to buy Baked Lays, Smartfood and Flat Earth snacks, Frito Lay has launched a campaign of advertisements and an incredibly involved website that allegedly represents “a woman’s world.” Suffice it to say a woman’s world is a living hell wherein she devotes nearly all her mental and physical energy to fitting into her skinny jeans.
Four cartoon women star in a series of webisodes, and appear in print and tv ads. According to the website, they’re “funny, fabulous, and fearlessly female.” Gag. What does it mean to be “fearlessly female?” Judging by the campaign, to be female is to be utterly consumed with one’s weight. Cheryl’s “secret shame,” according to her detailed personality profile, is “I lost five pounds but somehow they found me again.” The women’s self-punishment is presented in a whimsical, tee-hee-isn’t-it-a-riot manner. All they do is complain about their bodies, begrudgingly exercise, and strictly police their food consumption. If that appeals to you, you can become one of the girls by creating an avatar in your likeness.
Sadly, this does appeal to many women. A lot of people claim they’re not susceptible to media messages but those people are in denial. The media shows us who we (allegedly) are, we absorb those images, and we become them. Art imitates life and life imitates art (I use the word “art” loosely) and eventually it’s impossible to tell whether our realities inform advertising or vice versa.
My first instinct is to cry, “women are not like that!” when I see commercials and websites like “Only in a Woman’s World.” But is that true? If a large proportion of women were not like that, companies would not invest millions of dollars in campaigns like this. And campaigns like this mold women into even more severe cases of neurotic food policewomen who fear “bikini season” more than death. I want to be mad at the advertisers, and I am, but it’s not fair to place all the blame at their feet. Feminism is still necessary; let’s start with Cheryl.
My main complaint with these ads is that they are INANE. And NOT funny, clever, ironic, original, or eye catching. I eat low fat snacks and want my ass to look good in jeans but my God(dess), I have a brain and a sense of humor. I agree, it is disheartening that these middling ads are well-received. Im trying to think of any ads I even respond positively to…I guess I’m typically atypical, too.
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem. There most definitely ARE women like this, but aren’t they like this largely because of crappy portrayals like this?
I’ve always been pretty happy with my weight and appearance, even if by most standards I’m “fat” – I’m normally a size 10/12 – but since I had a baby I feel like I look gross. I have to bite my tongue to keep from commiserating when women start to attack their bodies. I can see how women fall into this trap.
I fucking hate these ads–they’re like candy-coated poison. And yet, they must work or Big Food wouldn’t spend all their ad dollars on them.
I would love to know if the ad agency who make them–and others like them, e.g. those dumbass Yoplait ads–have women on their creative teams. If so, I would call out those women as TRAITORS TO WOMANITY.
Just to clarify, I don’t think being ANY particular size makes one “fat” – just that according to portrayals like this, a woman who’s over about a 4 is “fat.”
You are so right. Ads like these just remind us that in this day and age the feminist movement (as it were)is still SO important.
Oh gosh, I was presented with these while trying to watch 30 Rock online yesterday. HATE. HAAAATE.
I mean… these are meant to be “diet” snacks (or, in my personal case, a snack for someone who just prefers the taste of baked chips). Dieting does not only happen in a woman’s world. Men can diet too. The cartoon woman with a male personal trainer who pretended that she had kept doing sit-ups when he went away for a minute did not have to be a woman. The trainer didn’t have to be male. Men also go to the gym to lose weight. There are female personal trainers in the world. It’s all also just foreign to my experience–in my family, the men are the ones who diet–so it made it even more bizarre to me.
I remember from reading about the ads before that part of the problem is that women don’t buy Frito-Lay products, so the company wanted commercials aimed at women… but couldn’t they have gotten more women to pay attention just by putting women doing NORMAL things in the commercials? Maybe live, non-animated women who would be portrayed actually eating instead of complaining about eating?
On what planet do the dieting commercials make anyone want to eat anyway, even if it *is* a low-cal product?
Baked lays are a food product and junk at that. It takes a lot to convince people “It’s healthy” because it just isn’t. The “lot” seems to be a whole bunch of market research and unsubtle psychology.
If Frito-Lay were to market them this way: “Buy them they taste good” would anybody care?
As for the obnoxious portraits of women, well, the last line sums up it perfectly. Feminism is still necessary.
Honestly, it feels like no matter how many letters I write to companies that piss me off with their marketing, they’re always going to revert to the “but women LIKE this advertising, seeeee?” argument. I agree with Maritsa that it’s the chicken and the egg for sure.
However, what I hate more is that people just accept this as “the way it is” and that there’s nothing we can do to change it. But, now that I’ve been out of school for a year and the real world has shown me its true colours, I’m beginning to feel that there isn’t much hope for changing things like this (another argument for why feminism is necessary).
I also get really uncomfortable at the body bashing sessions at work, because I lost a ton of weight two years ago and realize I was starving myself to look good, and subsequently stopped the diet (LA weight loss, anyone? It also was ridiculously expensive). Now that I’ve put the weight back on I’m finding it extremely difficult to stay positive in a world where cultural rewards are handily doled out to those who “fit in”.
I really hate the “begrudgingly exercise” trope in advertising. Women are supposed to exercise to stay skinny, but they can’t actually ENJOY it. That would make them athletic and therefore unfeminine.
Also, isn’t is so cute how Maya hides her shopping habit from her husband? Nothing says “fearless” like lying to your partner!
also, are those the cartoons?
Two brown, two white, maybe an Asian, or maybe she’s latina, a blonde and a redhead?
I fear that cartoon because it is inspired bySex and the City, although it’s not really inspired by it because otherwise they would all be white cartoon women.
My first instinct is to cry, “women are not like that!” when I see commercials and websites like “Only in a Woman’s World.” But is that true? If a large proportion of women were not like that, companies would not invest millions of dollars in campaigns like this. I feel the same way, and then I look at my incredibly intelligent, beautiful mother who is always on a new diet, always bemoaning the 5 or 10 pounds that “must” be lost. And I can see it in myself. This shit works by bypassing your rational mind.
So, I was watching t.v. with my mother, and talking about the commercials and she informed me that “normal” people, which are either people who are not me or people who aren’t rabidly feminist, ignore commercials almost completely.
Can that really be true?!
Advertising is SO pervasive. I believe I read once that we see an average of 1,000 advertising messages per day. and the entire gist of advertising is that you are not as happy as you could or should be, and that you should do something about it.
Interestingly, I’ve been thinking about the effects of advertising a lot, now that I’ve cut most of it out of my life. My only source for television is Netflix and the internet, so I rarely see ads anymore. I browse the internet with AdBlock, so I rarely see advertising online. So my ad intake is mostly limited to what I encounter in the magazines I subscribe to, or what I see on billboards. And it may sound silly, but it’s seriously changed my life. I am happier, I want less shit that I don’t need, and I’m feeling better about myself than ever before.
@bellacoker: I think that normal people ignore their own susceptibility to cultural imagery and pressure.
@funnyface
This week (Weds?) being secretaries day, (posts please, harpies!) I looked to find something for the secretaries in my life, and noticed Bobby Flay cookware. Do I need this? Hey, he cooks so well, if I buy this Bobby Flay widget, I will cook well too.
The psychology of it is really fascinating. As you say funny, “Consumer – you are not happy. Do something about it!” Perfect summary.
So, basically “A Woman’s World” is … a Cathy cartoon.
(Although, I do kinda like the redhead’s boots. I’m just sayin’!!)
Hahah why yes, it is a Cathy cartoon!
Bittermik, I think even when we write letters complaining about this type of advertising, far more people like it, so the companies decide it’s in their best interest to continue making them.
@Pilgrim Soul: So true.
No amount of advertising for ill or good changes the fact that fritos are gross.
And I totally agree with funnyface, I’ve really cut what I watch/read/listen to so I encounter less advertising and I’m so much happier for it. When I do see the odd cable ad (mostly via ESPN from my SO watching sports) I am shocked at how insulting it all is.
One of my main problems with this is that there ARE women out there who appear to be “like this” (or like a Cathy cartoon), but that only shows a very small part of the story. Yes, many women are on diets, complain to one another about their weight, grudgingly exercise, etc. However, this doesn’t come from a place of humor and fun and teehee, girl talk! no matter how much the media wants to dress it up that way. At the root of it is a lot of anxiety and even self-loathing. It’s an ugly thing. It is not fun, and presenting it as such masks the very real pain and struggle just beneath the surface, and prevents women from connecting in a real way about societal pressures because “eveyone’s on a diet, so that’s just normal, right?”
I really hate these commercials, but my suitemate loves them. She showed me the one about springtime and I had to sit and bear it. The feminist in me just wanted to cry out all the points that have already been made here, but I know she’ll just look at me weird as if I’m up in my ivory tower. I’ve learned not to talk about feminism with my friends.
This whole thing makes me want to crawl out of my skin and roll around in salt it is so bad. Especially the “escape and play” bit, with “games” that would be insulting to most 8 year olds.
I agree with posters Funnyface and Pilgrim Soul. I find things on television amusing/ entertaining, etc. However, I don’t let it influence my mentality like that. I would like to believe I am not a mentally weak person that would be influenced by images. I’m not going to even waste my time discussing the foolishness that is the beauty/fashion mags that we are all forced to see as we check out at the grocery store. I have come to understand that all of that stuff is an attempt to appeal to the insecurites or fantasies of people who are impulsive enough to take the bait. Nothing more, nothing less although I may find it amusing. Ultimately if I am dissatisfied with any of it, I just do like Funnyface suggested and don’t expose myself to it.