Making Strides in Advertising

By: Lindsey Murphy

The advertising industry has been known to show a not-so-real body image or even photoshopped models in its campaigns. This type of artificial promotion leads to trust issues with consumers and a culture filled with unrealistic body expectations. Because sex sells, the advertising industry is to blame for constant images of retouched, unrealistic women in ads everywhere. These images have proven to have a negative impact on young girls to reach the level of perfect that society is telling them to achieve. Here are some great campaigns that shows that the advertising industry can sell products using real, relatable women.

1. Always #LikeAGirl

First debuted in a Super Bowl ad several years ago, this ad has remained a popular female empowerment campaign. I remember when this ad came out and loved how inspiring it was to young girls and how more young girls should have confidence and power in their abilities as a girl.

2. Aerie #AerieReal

Women’s underwear companies such as Victoria’s Secret are known for their stick-thin models with flawless skin and hair. This type of advertising leads to very unrealistic body expectations for women. For the past few years Aerie has been changing the game by using untouched photos in its campaigns. This is emphasized through its #AerieReal campaign to promote healthier beauty standards. Promoting body positivity has helped Aerie with not only their credibility but also their revenues. I think more companies should find ways to make women love their bodies more as opposed to making them feel like they are not good enough.

3. Nike #BetterForIt

This Nike ad is one of my favorites by Nike because it only features women and it's very different because of how humorous but motivating it is. It shows a series of women doing various forms of exercise and they share their thoughts that women all share when exercising. One woman is shown at the gym with small weights in her arms and says,"Don't mind me with my little baby weights... baby arms." The ad shows that everyone has insecurities when exercising, but exercising makes us better in the long run. The end of the ad shows the women succeeding in their exercising efforts and becoming more confident in themselves.

Cooper, Grace. "5 Empowering Ad Campaigns That Are Breaking The Beauty Mold." Verily. N.p., 06 July 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://verilymag.com/2016/07/positive-advertising-womens-body-image-beauty-standards-dove-nike>.