We’ve all heard that ‘sex sells,’ but we rarely think twice about it. In fact, it’s one tired cliché we’ve actually grown up believing. Unfortunately, for marketers and consumers worldwide…
We’ve been lied to.
And while there’s no denying that Britney Spears sold records in great part due to eroticized expressions of virginity, research has shown that the higher sex content in an advertisement, the lower the brand name recall. In fact, a study conducted by Steadman found that brand-name recall was significantly lower in sexual advertisements than non-sexual advertisements. Still, we can continue to tell our clients and our kids that same played out line.
The real question is this: what does this mean when it comes to perceptions of beauty and the body for women and men today?
In 2004, with the help of Ogilvy, Dove launched its famous “Campaign for Real Beauty“ after conducting a global study of beauty. The study confirmed that the definition of beauty had become impossible to attain. Dove found that only 2 % of women described themselves as beautiful and, when it came to body image and weight, women from all countries were unsatisfied with themselves. However, an overwhelming 81% strongly agreed that “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve” and 75 % wish the media did a better job portraying the diversity of women’s physical attractiveness, including size, shape, and age. With women making up roughly 50% of the world’s population and influencing or buying 80% of products sold, companies ignoring what these women say and feel can be a costly mistake.
Dove’s response was to develop “Evolution,” a viral video with unprecedented success; viewed by more than 300 million people globally. Dove and Ogilvy won countless awards, including two Grand Prix Cannes Advertising Awards and a Grand EFFIE, which honors the most significant achievement in marketing communications. In the first six months of the campaign, sales of Dove’s firming products increased 700% in Europe and the United States. In the first year, global sales surpassed $1 billion.
Shortly thereafter, Spain made headlines for banning super-thin models from runways after the deaths of 21-year old Ana Carolina Reston and 22-year-old Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos, who reportedly died of heart failure after stepping off a runway during Montevideo’s Fashion Week. The ban demanded models have a BMI above 18 to participate in shows. Soon, talk spread to other nations. Italy, India, Israel, and Canada proudly followed suit. Ordinarily, this might indicate an improvement; however, seven years after the Dove campaign, models in all the popular magazines have continued to get thinner and the US, UK, and France still haven’t accepted a ban on undernourished models.
As the website, SomethingFishy.org, points out, “We need to remind ourselves and each other constantly (especially children) that these images are fake.” The average female model is estimated to be 5’ 9” tall and 110 lbs., resulting in a BMI (height to weight ratio) of just 16 (below 18.5 is considered underweight), according to The Evening Standard. Furthermore, models are often ‘taped up’ on the shoots to make their bodies appear more photogenic and photos are heavily photoshopped before going to print. Thus, these images are not only abnormal, but they’re also unattainable and ‘the result of these images on society makes us believe they should be.’
In addition to these manifestations of beauty and body, as Media Awareness in Canada also discovered, “The most cursory examination of media confirms that young girls are being bombarded with images of sexuality… those who continue to consume media images are strongly influenced ‘by stereotypical images of uniformly beautiful, obsessively thin and scantily dressed objects of male desire. And studies show that girls who are frequent viewers have the most negative opinion of their gender.’
But men, in case you think this isn’t a problem for you… since 1967, male mannequins have gradually decreased in size by roughly seven inches in the chest and five inches in the waist. Manorexia is on the rise with over 1 million men and boys suffering daily. The amount of bare-chested six-pack wielding men in advertising has increased tenfold. Over fifteen years ago, Kolbe and Albanese (1996) examined male images from 1993 issues of Business Week, Esquire, GQ, Playboy, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated and found that, overall, male images in the magazines were not depictions of ordinary, average men. Today, men, too, are being pushed to starve themselves to fit into skinny jeans and, if we don’t put a halt to this alarming trend, we will see more boys and girls with high levels of physical insecurity and eating disorders.
In short, this affects us all.
With this in mind, when marketing products and services to women, here are three key factors to keep in mind.
1. Do not ignore what women are saying in the research.
Women want to see women who reflect what women in society look like. Period. The more we continue to ignore this one simple truth or make excuses for ‘aspirational’ or artificial constructs of beauty, the more we will experience an unbalanced society wrought with neurotic, unsatisfied women and equally neurotic, frustrated men. These representations speak to something uneasy within us – something far too detached from the beauty of our own soul’s purpose. And, although marketers can’t solve every man or woman’s insecurities, as individuals who trade in semiotics, we play an enormously large role in crafting the solutions.
2. Treating women as a category entirely different than men is a recipe for mediocrity.
I’ve never dated a man who watches sports. Millions of men do, but there are millions that would rather get a pedicure (and, yes, they’re straight). So, if you’re always going to put women in advertisements for cleaning products you’re simply perpetuating behavior that, at least in my family, isn’t always accurate. Look to Sweden. They listened to the research on gender and media. Subsequently, their government eliminated stereotypical gender-specific behavior in advertisements because they recognized that it reinforces inequality. In Sweden, you will see both men and women in advertisements for cleaning products. As a result of this bold forward-thinking, their society reflects the equality, stability, and happiness that so many nations aspire to possess.
3. If you want to market to healthy women then show us healthy women.
I’ve heard countless men complain about ‘women with daddy issues’ or ‘crazy ex-girlfriends.’ I’ve heard women called ‘insecure’ and ‘clingy’.
Perhaps, it’s high time we ask ourselves why these traits appear to be endemic to women reared in certain societies, but not others. Parents can only do so much when children are bombarded – from the time they’re toddlers – with thousands of images of robotic models sucking on water bottles or Carmen Electra in a bikini on all fours. Perhaps, we ought to look at how complicit we are in the formation of these identities by creating advertisements where we sexualize young girls and use models that don’t look like anyone we’ve ever seen in real life. Perhaps, we ought to learn from Dove’s research and do something proactive to change these alarming trends.
Instead of creating an atmosphere of difference between the genders, let us foster the similarities between them.
Such a relevant and timely article, given that NYC Fashion Week has just passed and we are still seeing super skinny models on the runways. Why is it that Spain and Italy can pass BMI requirements, but in the US we still have not?
What I want to know is thinner really sexier? Do men think the models in the media now are sexy? Remember the 90’s – Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Elle Macpherson… those girls had curves and were sexy… right?
Great article. I just read a biography of Helen Gurley Brown (former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine), and this post couldn’t be more timely!
This is really meaningful article and talks about the power of the media all over the world. The beauty of women and people is diversity. Diversity when it comes to ethnicity, beauty, beliefs..etc. There should be no “right” way to look as there should be no “right” way to think. As technology reaches different cultures far and wide-our minds should be open to a new definitions of beauty…defintions…no one but many. As the old saying goes…”beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
This was a fantastic read. It has occurred to me a few times as of late that, as women, we are watching other women in print and on screen that we either consciously or unconsciously are comparing ourselves too and trying to “look” like and the most ridiculous part is that the women we are looking at don’t even look like the pictures we see of them. So if the person in the picture can’t even measure up to their marketed selves we are left with generations of women who, as you mentioned in your article are, “unsatisfied” with themselves. It is past time to awaken the sleeping giant of women and demand reality……or go live in a cave.
Great topic. This issue is so complicated. Love the retouched photo comparison. Funny/disturbing to see that even having a shoulder blade is apparently unattractive. I was unaware that I needed to be concerned but I haven’t looked at a woman’s magazine since I was about 16 and my best friend become anorexic. It is one thing to see a photo of an anorexic girl, and something completely different to see your best childhood friend disappearing before your eyes.
IDK about other countries but in the U.S. we are such a consumption obsessed society and I do not see the marketing changing without a cataclysmic shift in our basic desire to consume everything. Our society’s values are severely off track. Most people spend their entire lives working to pay for possessions they do not need and rarely use. They spend little to no time with friends and hours each day watching television. And our food consumption is a certified disaster. Unfortunately, if they started showing average American women in ads she would be just shy of obese. (Here is an interactive of world weight change since 1980. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/weight-of-the-world-bmi) And as awful as it is to say, people are not going to associate beauty or positive things with really fat people most of the time. Personally seeing obese people makes me worry about their mental and physical well being. There is no doubt, we are a very sick society.
And while I applaud Dove, we have so far to go. I would love to know how we make the shift to a healthier society. It probably does start with women. But I have no idea what that change looks like.
I remember reading some articles and research done a few years regarding what most men actually found attractive/sexy, and the uber skinny run way model physique was not it. Most men in this survey had a preference for women with a little meat on their body (Curves and such). Bottom line is that too skinny is bad, even more so when you end up seeing a skeleton cover in skin.
It’s apparent that part of the fashion industry is in touch with this issue, however the rest of the industry has yet to follow suit.
Personally speaking, I don’t find Skeletons all that sexy or appealing. Yet so many women wish they were skinnier. I’ve encountered a number of extremely attractive women (with ideal weight or less) upset with how fat they believed they were. This attitude, is not only unhealthy physically but mentally as well.
Most people have some issues regarding their own physical appearance, but does the media or fashion/cosmetics industry need to make it any worse? Not really. The key is to make people feel better about themselves without the use of unrealistic pedestals for people to aspire climbing up in vain attempt.
What an excellent read! I recently saw the trailer for Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s new doc film “Miss Representation” http://www.missrepresentation.org/welcome.html
and it dawned on me just how easy it is to fall asleep at the wheel. In other words, it’s easy to stop noticing how representation finds its way into your pores for some psychoactive mucking. As a young college student, I reached my feminist peak, but those extremes have since subsided. I find this article does a fine job of provoking thought without the weight of too much emotion. The truth is, we’re far from liberated and it’s only collective vigilance that will ever lead to something different. So put on your high heels if you think they’re sexy, but do so with your eyes open and love in your heart.
p.s. It’s really inspiring to see someone in the corporate world of advertising putting out ideas that, if enacted by all, would benefit all. Thank you!
[...] http://womenology.ogilvypr.com/2011/02/beauty-and-the-media-beast/#more-1567 [...]
This is a great read.
I too was a victim of [perceived] media pressure and struggled for years and years with my own body-image, trying new diets that started all the way back in junior high. It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles and began working in advertising when I realized that these women are created using software programs and were not actual living, breathing beings. I might be the only person who moved to LA and found their body-image actually improved; it really shocked me to see how much work is put into retouching models/actresses/celebrities/etc. The saddest thing is that there are millions of women and young girls (and now men!?) across the nation that do not understand the process those photos go through before they are approved to run in next month’s magazine.
Recently, I came across a very interesting interview with über-thin/”plus size”/thin again model Crystal Renn. Here is the link for anyone who is interested: http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2011/02/video_crystal_renn_would_like.html
It is very true that when a designer holds a fashion show of zeros marching down the runway, and then they try to “sneak” in a full-figured size fourteen model (perhaps only under pressure of those calling for real bodies to also be showcased), it really does stand out to the eye plain as day. But if we were to revolutionize the fashion industry and include all body types and sizes, the bodies themselves no longer become the centerpiece to the viewer, the actual clothes do. You would think designers would think a bit about this…
On a side note, even Crystal herself, who has publicly criticized the industry, has gone from flaunting her curvy “plus sized body” to a much much thinner version of herself – again. This goes to show that even those that are fully aware and against what is happening sadly still succumb to the pressures of the industry.
So many great topics touched upon in one article. As it relates to women and body image issues, I think that when the value of a product is difficult to measure or communicate, some companies resort to another message: that buying this product will make the consumer more attractive and consequently lead to a happier, more fulfilled life. Therefore, what may need to be suggested first is that there are shortcomings in our current existence. Perhaps this is why media portrays women in such unrealistic ways. These advertisements are meant to incite thinking that because we don’t look like the Photoshopped models (and as Layla points out, it would be physically impossible for us to look like the women in these doctored photos), true happiness must elude us until we are proud owners of whatever it is the ads are selling. Is this what it means to aspire to something? While I am certain that this negative message can be effective to some extent, I wonder how deeply people would be affected if instead the message were “I have everything I need right here. I use/buy [insert product] so that I can take even better care of myself.” I would like to believe that this message would be incredibly impactful. But how many businesses hoping to sell more stuff would be the first to own up to the fact that we already have exactly what we need to be happy and fulfilled? Thanks for a great article.
A great – and very important – read. We need to stand up and take notice of what is happening if we want future generations of children, male and female, to be more balanced and secure.
This is a great piece – it is a strong reminder of the dangerous & cyclical patterns that we subject ourselves to in this society. So much of how we live is shaped by something that we have repeatedly seen in the media or advertising. And I have to wonder when it will stop and why it is so appealing to even be that thin or oversexualized…lots of thoughts provoked by this article. Thanks!
Well done. It is deeply sad that so many women do not feel beautiful. I wish someone would take on children’s cartoons. (ahemmm, ahemmm)Media took on Ken and Barbie, the Pillsbury dough boy, not enough. Take a look at the orginal Scooby-doo, then take a look at the current Scooby-doo. Velma and Daphne now have huge breasts, Fred is a superhunk and even Shaggy isn’t so “shaggy” anymore. We are starting wayyyy too young with this flesh garbage!
Great piece, Layla. It’s easy not to challenge the status quo, and I like that you are raising these questions. And interestingly, you make a commercial argument for updating these images: it will be more effective and companies will therefore benefit. This is probably the most compelling way to actually get brands and agencies to change. Thanks for addressing a much debated issue, with fresh perspective and strong examples from our global neighbors.
For years the argument that sex sells has acted as an excuse for ways to demoralise and objectify women, when in actuality sex does not sell as so many of those corporations think. Great article!
[...] came across the article, Beauty and the (Media) Beast by Layla Revis on the Womenology, the Anatomy of Marketing to Women website. It was good to read [...]
As a woman and future advertising professional, I was extremely pleased to see this article. Bravo to Oglivy for the Dove advertisement; I was a teenager when it came out and promptly showed it to all my female friends. Yet, this is one advertisement among many, and I am interested as to why there isn’t more backlash against the unrealistic images constantly presented. With the huge success of this Dove ad, why haven’t we seen a trend shifting in that direction? I look for more companies to follow suite.
Jean Kilbourne has focused on woman’s image in the advertising world for a long time and has several fantastic documentaries on the subject. The link to her website is http://jeankilbourne.com/, and I would highly recommend “Killing Me Softly”. It is also available in several parts on YouTube.
On a more global level, I would be interested to the differences in advertising in reference to the role of women. Is there a demand for more realistic advertising? I wonder if in the countries with the BMI requirements, this restriction speaks to general sentiment among the people. It also makes me think about this ad… http://style.popcrunch.com/italian-designer-nolita-no-anorexia-ad/