Jezebel: Advertising

How To Market To Women On A Budget

Sadie — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:40:00 EST

You know those Glade ads, where women buy the cheap candles and plug-ins and pretend they're expensive, then have their dishonesty exposed and mocked? Well, I thought of that while reading this piece on AdAge about how to market to women during the recession. Because apparently someone thinks the way to do it is by encouraging gratuitous deception! Thank you, Glade!

There are a few variations on this campaign. In one, a woman lights a Glade candle in the bath. When a friend calls, she tells her she's at the spa. In the next iteration, a woman lights a Glade candle, then tells her friends it's some expensive scent "from France." "You mean you've never heard of Glah-day?!" shouts her friend, triumphantly, as she rips the giveaway Glade label off the liar's back. Then there's the "yoga" ad, where the deceitful woman explains the fresh smell as something she uses to "plug into her karma." "DON'T YOU MEAN GLADE PLUG-INS?" crows her friend upon espying the telltale dispenser.

It's an innocuous — if annoying — campaign, and I get the logic behind it: in strapped times, people want nice things for cheap, and Glade wants to take its image upmarket. But there's something weird about the psychology of 'deceit ads' - pretending frozen pizzas have been delivered; that Sara Lee tortes are from fancy bakeries; that Pillsbury pastries are made from scratch; that canned broth is "a family secret." Some of it seems like a holdover from a time when convenience products were stigmatized, but the odd culture of 'women lying to their friends' — and it's always women — is somewhat unsettling to the overthinker, as if always implicit is the notion of female competition — and based on products, no less.

Of course, the commercials universe is a grotesque one in which husbands are invariably buffoons, people get strangely excited about fast food, and children speak exclusively in sassy one-liners. The odd deceit culture is of a piece with this; but the fact that these approaches have, one assumes, been strenuously market-and focus-tested and somehow found to appeal to women is bizarre. According to Marti Berletta, female shoppers are eminently practical: the marketer is advised that women prize "price over value," "thrift over convenience," "sustainables over disposables" and "essentials over indulgences." Nowhere does she mention status-conscious deceit, and indeed, lately there seems to be a palpable pride in bargain-hunting at work which is at odds with this.

That said, for all my bafflement and manufactured outrage, I was moved to sniff a Glade candle at the supermarket the other day: annoying or not, the ads had obviously made an impression - so had they worked? The candle smelled exactly like one of those blue-water scent things in a particularly grimy restaurant toilet. And at the end of the day, you can only deceive us so much.

Why Using Alcohol To Lower Sexual Inhibitions Isn't Always A Bad Thing

Jessica — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:30:00 EST

Feminist Law Professors points us to this collection of alcohol ads where they say the "not-so-subtle message of the ad was: 'get’er drunk and she’ll do ya!'" However, to me, the Heineken ad at left isn't necessarily about men getting women drunk in order to take advantage of them; it speaks more to a fundamental conflict that many women feel in dealing with their sexuality.

Many women — myself included — are profoundly uneasy about their desires. They want to be able to follow their sexual pleasure, but often can't be wholly casually sexual without the lubrication of alcohol. This isn't a value judgment, merely an observation: that booze helps women silence that inner voice telling them that having non-committed sex is somehow wrong.

It reminds me of a passage from the very moving memoir by Caroline Knapp about her struggle with alcoholism, Drinking: A Love Story:

The deeper connections between alcohol and self-worth and sexuality, the way women (at least women like me) use alcohol to deaden a wide range of conflicted feelings — longing for intimacy and terror of it; a wish to merge with others and a fear of being consumed; profound uncertainty about how and when to maintain boundaries and how and when to let them down…[alcohol] is a way of giving license to the part of you that wants to say yes. Yes to life and yes to deep connection and yes to touch and comfort and love.

The problem now, as it has been for many years, is that everyone gets histrionic when alcohol and sex are combined. Women are blamed if they're sexually assaulted while under the influence and there's a rash of pearl clutching and condescension that inevitably goes along with the issue. Knapp was an alcoholic, but scads of young women who don't have a real problem with alcohol certainly use it to stifle their more prudent (and prudish) voices, something otherwise known as having fun. Perhaps if there were more room for discussion of young female sexuality without descent into histrionics, women would have an easier time coming to terms with their own physical desires — with or without the aid of alcohol.

Alcohol As Dating Accoutrement [Feminist Law Professors]

Related: Alcohol As A Tool In The Dating Game [Contexts Blogs]
Drinking: A Love Story [Amazon]

When Israeli Foreign Minster Tzipi Livni ...

Intern Margaret — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:40:00 EST

When Israeli Foreign Minster Tzipi Livni runs for prime minister early next year, she'll be able to run political ads on the side of buses in Jerusalem, thanks to a small political party called Wake Up, Jerusalemites. When the party tried to buy advertising on buses for six candidates for city council, they were told that their three female candidates could not appear in the ads because Egged, the public transportation company, said they feared that if the bus were to drive through an ultra-orthodox neighborhood, it would offend the haredim so much that they might attack it. Even when the Black-Eyed Peas played Jerusalem, the bus company photo-shopped Fergie out of the posters. [Time]

Leave It To Beaver

Maria — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:40:00 EST

Despite complaints from prudish consumers, Kotex will continue using its Australian Kotex U tampon commercials, which feature a woman hanging out with her animated beaver. Although some view the ads as inappropriate, they've helped Kotex gain two share points in the $250 million market and overcome the perception that they are a lower-tier brand of menstrual products. Click the image at left to see the commercial. [AdAge]

Moddles Make Men Feel Bad About Themselves, Too

Sadie — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:40:00 EST

We all know that being bombarded with skeletal children 24/7 does a number on the female psyche, but now it turns out that they're not doing much for men's self-esteem, either. Researchers report that all these images of unrealistic women make guys feel bad about themselves — because they think they're not attractive enough to appeal to them.

Whereas women are affected more adversely by same-sex images, men weren't bothered by the pics of strapping beefcakes they were shown. Rather, "the cultural expectation for men is not that they have to be as attractive as their peers, but that they need to be attractive enough to be sexually appealing to women." Hence, the men who were given magazines full of pictures of "idealized" women who were "out of their league" unsurprisingly ended up feeling less than great about their own bodies by the end of the study.

As Professor Jennifer Aubrey notes, "the exposure to objectified females increased self-consciousness because men are reminded that in order to be sexually or romantically involved with a woman of similar attractiveness, they need to conform to strict appearance standards." We're guessing men aren't devoting a lot of conscious thought to this, which already makes the phenomenon somewhat less severe. But even so, it does beg a question: Models make women feel bad. They make men feel bad. So who exactly are they supposed to be appealing to?

Surprisingly, Female Models Have Negative Effect On Men [PhysOrg]

Craigslist is cracking down on ads posted ...

Intern Margaret — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:20:00 EST

Craigslist is cracking down on ads posted by prostitutes as part of an agreement with law enforcement in 40 states. Advertisers in the "erotic services section" will now have to pay a fee with a credit card and give a phone number, and Craigslist will provide the contact information to law enforcement if subpoenaed. "Prostitutes will hopefully stop using Craigslist to break the law, knowing that their posts could lead to arrest and conviction," says Connecticut A.G. Richard Blumenthal. [Reuters]

Polar Bear Still Stuck In Milwaukee Moat • Swedes Criticize Gender Roles In Lego Catalog

Maria — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:30:00 EDT

• Zookeepers at the Milwaukee County Zoo are attempting to lure Zero the polar bear out of the moat surrounding his habitat after he fell in the moat on October 13. • A Wisconsin man needed eight stitches in his head after his wife tied him to the bed and pummeled him with a dumbbell on Monday night after he refused to lower his voice during an argument. • A recent survey conducted by Hotels.com found that 84% of British women planning their first getaway with their male SO expect the man to pay for the cost of the trip. • In bizarre study news: A recent Canadian study found that men prefer to use the "extra hour" they gain when they turn back clock this weekend for sex while women prefer to use it for extra sleep time. •

• U.S. researchers announced on Saturday that an "aggressive effort" to vaccinate older women against cervical cancer would help lower cancer rates dramatically. • A recent study found that women with disabilities are more likely to report some form of domestic violence than women without them. • An elderly Chinese couple got married after they met each other online. • HBO has created a licensing agreement with Vesuvio Import Company to create Sopranos Wine, a line of Italian wines ranging from $11.99 to $29.99. • Emo animals' hair is everywhere. • Australian researchers say that playing the trumpet, eye rubbing, sleeping face down and doing yoga headstands can lead to pressure spikes in eyes which can become eye risks for people with short-sightedness and glaucoma. • The Trade and Ethical Council Against Sexism in Advertising in Sweden has condemned Lego for promoting gender stereotypes in its catalog. • Meanwhile, a British man who is obsessed with Legos recently got engaged. He says he "never thought he'd find a girl [he loves] as much as Lego." • A new survey has found that the birth control pill remains to most popular form of contraception for women in England. • About 30% of women experience some hair loss in their lifetime but they should steer clear of Propecia, which works on testosterone and has not been tested for women. • Suzan-Lori Parks, author of Topdog/Underdog, will become the first playwright to fill the Public Theater's Master Writer Chair since the position was launched three years ago.•

[Image via Linkinn.]

Ready For Takeoff

Maria — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:40:00 EDT

Cheap Irish airline, Ryanair, has called Sweden's Trade Ethical Council against Sexism in Advertising (ERK) "old farts" and "anti-funsters" after the ERK condemned a sexist Ryanair ad featuring a scantily-clad schoolgirl. Ryanair defends its ad against sexist charges by saying it "reflects reality" and that "young women around Europe want to look their best." How image-conscious young women translates to a woman dressing up in a porn-y schoolgirl outfit to sell discounted airline tickets isn't addressed by the Ryanair representatives. However, the airline bravely states that they "defend the right of Swedish girls to take their clothes off." [UPI]

Smoke And Mirrors

Sadie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:40:00 EDT

Big Tobacco, Feminist Hero? In the early 20th century, smoking was regarded as unladylike. In the 1920, realizing they were missing out on millions of potential customers PR expert Edward Bernays encouraged the American Tobacco Company to play on women's nascent sense of modern independence. Casting it as a political stunt, Bernays got a bunch of respectable women to publicly light up during the Easter Parade...and the smoking feminist was born! The gambit was employed again during Women's Lib, when Virginia Slims coined the iconic, "You've Come A Long Way, Baby" campaign, guaranteeing equal opportunity emphysema for all! [NY Times]

Soft-Core Porn? Or Clothing Commercial?

Dodai — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EDT

There's something about the low-budget production value, the cheesy music and the women just sorta "hanging out" and embracing themselves in this Eileen Fisher commercial that brings to mind soft-core porn. (It's mostly the music.) You know, right before the dude arrives on the scene and starts seducing and undressing? Is it just us? Clip above.

Fashion Films: Is Anybody Buying What These Brands Are Selling?

Dodai — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:30:00 EDT

In the new film The Science Of Sexy, Dita Von Teese plays a bespectacled scientist who turns into… Dita Von Teese. Her lab coat gives way to lingerie. This movie has already been viewed over 200,000 times, but not in a theater: It's playing on YouTube. The short film is produced by Wonderbra, and, as Oliver Horton writes for the International Herald Tribune, the "fashion film" is having a moment. Prada has released two animated short films, and Louis Vuitton produced one as well. Of course, not matter how fancy they appear to be, these "fashion films" are really just commercials.

But when you're a luxury brand, you're special. You don't want to seem low-rent, like a dishwashing detergent. So you're can't just make a commercial. You've got to make a film, and it's got to be for the interwebs. Marcus Black, the editor of Specialten, a bimonthly magazine on DVD, explains: "Magazines are losing out to computers. What people are sitting in front of is where advertisers want to be."

But here's the question: Does it work? Do people who wouldn't otherwise be interested in Prada see the trippy Trembled Blossoms and buy a Prada bag? How about that existential crisis LV ad? (I was in a movie theater when the Louis Vuitton commercial appeared on screen and people in the audience actually hissed.)

As for Dita, at least her "film" is straightforward: No mythical beasts or sense of ennui. Just a great-looking gal in well-fitting bra. Wouldn't you buy that?

Fashion Film Gets A Life Of Its Own [International Herald Tribune]
Earlier: The New Prada Movie Stars Very Shady Characters
Let's All Take Acid And Watch The New Prada Movie
Another Luxury Brand, Another Existential Film

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

Dodai — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:20:00 EDT

A reader sent us an ad from Elle Decor. It's for a high-end bathroom product company, and there is something odd going on in the window behind the woman in the photo. The reader writes: "I even asked my husband what he thought was going on in the background and he wondered why anyone thought this was okay." We laughed it off… until we saw a Kohler ad, in which a woman watches another woman shower nude! Click the image at left to see both pervy bath ads enlarged.

Here is the Duravit ad; click to enlarge.
shirts, there are several ads which use nudity, provocative or sexualized imagery in an attempt to shill a product. But do these scantily clad women in the throes of ecstasy make an impact, or do you just turn the page? Can you remember what you've seen later? Do you think you know which brands are represented by which sexy ads? A pop quiz of sorts, after the jump.

For each ad, the brand or product has been cropped out or obscured. The answer is "hidden" in white text next to the "A." Just use your mouse to highlight the text and see.

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Calvin Klein's Secret Obsession fragrance

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Victoria's Secret

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Fur (Origin Assured)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Maybelline (lipcolor)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Jimmy Choo (shoes)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Bebe (clothing)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Diesel (clothing)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Marciano (clothing)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Versace (purse)

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance

Q. What product/brand is being shilled?
A.Tom Ford's White Patchouli fragrance

Earlier: Hot For Fall: Toplessness!

Feminine Hygiene Commercials Are Rarely Genius

Dodai — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Over on AdAge, there's a commercial for a company called Libra. In the spot, a woman on a rooftop rocks out on guitar as video game shapes fall from the sky. The licks are hot, the chick is cool, and the tagline is: "Play with patterns." The product? Tampons. Because having your period rocks! Actually, the ad's not bad — at least there's not blue mystery liquid being squeezed from an eyedropper or a beaver involved. As AdAge's Charlie Moran points out: "We like rock 'n roll as a source of female empowerment, but doesn't such a contrived packaging gimmick like this play into stereotypes about the frivolity of those same young girls?" Ugh. Why is "feminine hygiene" such a tough product to sell? Women menstruate. They need tampons. So how come tampon commercials rarely hit the mark?

As Tracie wrote in her post about period dramas, blood makes people uncomfortable. TV commercials are gleaming, clean shiny things where no one bleeds or poops (ever see the All-Bran commercial where bricks stand in for crap?) Especially not women. The new Tampax commercials feature "Mother Nature" giving a woman her "monthly gift," which is a red present. Not bloody jelly blobs coming from her uterus, but a neatly wrapped box that might as well have a cashmere sweater inside. I'm not saying that I want to see blood in tampon commercials. I don't know what I want to see. And it seems like the ad execs don't know either. When it comes to period ads, what would you like to see? Have there ever been any ads that you thought were well done?

The Libra commercial:

A Touch of Feminine Hygenius [AdAge]
Earlier: The Importance Of Being Able To Change Your Period Products In "Public"
Leave It To Beaver

Hot For Fall: Toplessness!

Dodai — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Looking through the September issues, one could not help noticing that there were many ads in which the female models were not provided with a shirt. Clothes, clothes, everywhere, and nary a blouse to wear! Oh, there were barely any nipples, due to strategically placed arms, hair, suspenders and blazer jackets, but still: Fall 2008 is the season of going shirtless. Bare-breasted ads from the September issues of Elle, Glamour, Vogue, Allure, Bazaar, and Lucky, after the jump.

Okay, this is not an ad. This is a shot from an editorial in Bazaar. But look: Toplessness is what's NEXT!

This woman is shilling shoes and handbags, but she has no blouse.

Here she is again without a chemise. It went on like this for pages. Same model, different accessories, bare boobs.

Another young lady who would love for you to buy a handbag. Except she's not pictured actually touching a handbag. In fact, the handbag appears on the opposite page.

Perhaps her pale, shimmering skin is supposed to make you want to buy that pale, shimmering bag. Perhaps there's a shirt for her inside that bag. Perhaps they should rethink having a nekkid chick in an ad for a brand that sounds so much like a herpes medication.

Aww, look, equal opportunity. This man is also topless, because a topless man is just like a topless woman. They can both be seen in parks and at suburban pools and on family TV and stuff. Oh! And the man gets luggage instead of a handbag because men are bigger and stronger and can lug heavier things. Plus, men have places to go.

Rock And Republic: Fur! Studs! Jeans! Boobs!

Seeing Kate Moss topless is like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs: Cute, but you've seen it before.

Watch out, lady, Justin Timberlake is lurking behind you, hoping to get a glance of your tatas!

Dammit. Naomi makes it look easy. Normal. Should we all just throw away our camisoles right now?

And the winner. For toplessness. Goes to: Loree Rodkin. Shilling jewelry on this wretched green, lace-printed model. Do you want to buy a diamond-encrusted dragonfly chain right now? Me neither. Medic! Send Dramamine.

Earlier: Big Hair Is Sexy, Cigarettes Whiten Teeth, Not Having Cellulite Is Awesome
Advertising Taking Cues From Porn: What Is The World Cumming To?

Not Much Has Changed: The Faces In September Ladymags Are Overwhelmingly White

Maria — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Nothing quite says "It's August" like sifting through the pounds and pounds of perfume-scented and white-washed pages from the September issues of the major women's magazines. Sure, Italian Vogue came out with an "All Black" issue in July, but even that success probably won't motivate the editors of American women's magazines into showing a little diversity, especially if the September issues are any indication. After the jump, check out our roundup of the models of color in the ads and fashion spreads of the September ladymags, where, not surprisingly, Asian models are scarce, black models sell cleaning products, and Caucasians rule.

(Models were counted as being "ambiguous/mixed race" if we weren't sure what race they are (like the Kate Spade ads where the model was covered up), they were obviously of mixed race (Kimora Lee Simmons—still starring in her own ads!), or a non-European Hispanic woman.)

Here are the results:

Lucky:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 2 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total Black models: 16 (4 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 109 (11 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 16 (4 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 143
TOTAL ADS: 151

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 5
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1

TOTAL MODELS: 6
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 3

Cosmopolitan:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 15 (7 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 80 (12 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 9 (2 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 104
TOTAL ADS: 109

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 2 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 0

TOTAL MODELS: 2
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 2

Glamour:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 2 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total Black models: 14 (4 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 91 (12 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 10 (2 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 117
TOTAL ADS: 115

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 4 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1

TOTAL MODELS: 5
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 4

Allure:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 15 (3 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 69 (9 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 12 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 96
TOTAL ADS: 81

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 4
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1

TOTAL MODELS: 5
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 5

Teen Vogue:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 3
• Total Black models: 14 (4 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 83 (13 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 7 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 74
TOTAL ADS: 94

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 1
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 2
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1 (1 celebrity/non-model)

TOTAL MODELS: 4
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 4

Marie Claire:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 3 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total Black models: 8 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total White models: 70 (7 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 13 (7 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 94
TOTAL ADS: 102

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 3
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1 (1 celebrity/non-model)

TOTAL MODELS: 4
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 5

Harper's Bazaar:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 3 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total Black models: 6 (1 celebrity/ non-model)
• Total White models: 140 (13 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 14 (5 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 163
TOTAL ADS: 152

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 2
• Total Black models: 3
• Total White models: 14
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 0

TOTAL MODELS: 19
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 12

Elle:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 4
• Total Black models: 14 (6 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 187 (12 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 16 (4 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 221
TOTAL ADS: 205

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 1
• Total White models: 9 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1 (1 celebrity/non-model)

TOTAL MODELS: 11
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 9

Vogue:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 7 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total Black models: 9 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total White models: 236 (14 celebrity non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 9 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 261
TOTAL ADS: 214

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 9 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 0

TOTAL MODELS: 9
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 7

Overall Totals:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 24 (7 celebrity/non-models)
• Total Black models: 111 (31 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 1,065 (93 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 106 (33 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 1,273
TOTAL ADS: 1,223

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 3
• Total Black models: 4
• Total White models: 38 (6 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 6 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 65
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 51

This means that in advertising, out of 1,273 ads, if 24 Asian models were used, that is 1.8% Asian. And 111 black models might seem like a lot, but that's actually 8.7% black. 1,065 white models out of 1,273 ads means the ads were 83% white.

As for the fashion spreads, 3 Asian models out of 65 means 4.6% Asian representation. And despite the efforts of Bazaar, the models were only 6% black.

Wallace & Gromit Go High Fashion • Afghan Prez Pardons Bayonet Gang-Rapists

Maria — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Posh UK department store Harvey Nichols has launched an ad campaign starring Wallace, Gromit, and Wallace's love interest Lady Campanula. • The widespread movement of rural Australian women moving to urban areas to peruse education and better jobs has lead to a "gender imbalance" all over the country. • The Pet Olympics are in full swing in Hong Kong. Go Schnauzers! • After Taryn Davis lost her husband to war in Iraq, she decided to make a film about war widows titled American Widow Project. •

• The U.S. military has announced that it has arrested an al Qaeda figure who helped in the 2006 kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll. • A black female physician was blocked from seeking a DNA test to prove her direct relation to U.S. founding father James Madison by Madison's recognized/white descendants. • With Proposition 8 looming in CA to ban gay marriage, some Mormons are going on the internet to voice their support for gay marriage. • A new study conducted by an economics professor at UC Berkeley says that economic, environmental, and war-related stress causes pregnant women to release more hormones and give birth to more girls. • The creator of The Secret Life of the American Teenager is upset that a PSA urging parents to discuss sex with their kids is put on at the end of each episode. • Hot Cartoons And The Women Who Could Play Them: Megan Fox as Pocahontas? Really? • Angelica Alfaro defied the odds and stereotypes surrounding children of Mexican immigrants by attending and graduating from a college and not having children. • A guideline for members of district councils in England has cautioned council-members against using phrases like "man on the street" and "manning the switchboard" because they are "offensive" to women. • Rosie Swale Pope, a 61-year-old grandmother in England has just returned from her 5-year, 20,000-mile run around the world. • The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has pardoned 3 men accused of brutally gang raping a woman with a bayonet after she complained that they kidnapped her son. •

What better way to illustrate the changing ...

Maria — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:20:00 EDT

What better way to illustrate the changing times than with shrinking hemlines? This Volkswagen ad for the "New Beetle" in China illustrates the new design not with an actual picture of a car but with two women: one from the '60s in a longer dress and one from "today" in a minidress and heavy eye-make up. Wow! Fashions change... which means we need to get a new car that is (probably) too hideous to even be featured in the ad. Too bad advertising trends don't seem to change, because the whole short skirts=innovation (not to mention women=car) is getting kinda old. (Click the picture to view the full-size ad) [AdRants]

Ad Libs

Sadie — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:45:00 EDT

You really need to see this Ecko ad campaign to believe it, but we'll try to explain the subtleties of the company's advertising vision. Picture, if you will, a room full of lithe, bikini-clad babes producing jeans — sewing, treating denim, washing it. Why, you say, are these comely maidens making jeans in bikinis? And then, these words make all clear: "Hot Girls Make Great Clothes." Should you wish to explore this truism more deeply, you can then review the different manufacturers, give your opinion of her industry in the "Hotty Poll." A humorous fictional news feed lists the headlines "Unattractive Girl Sues Ecko!" (they won't hire her because she looks "like a farm animal) and "Catfight in the Locker Room!" Such wit! Again, we've not done the genius of the site justice, so we do urge you to give it the study it deserves. [EckoMFG]

Beauty And The Beast

Maria — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:40:00 EDT

Hey, you big fat whale-woman. Did you know that you are as big as a whale? Well, you are also as ugly as a cow, you big sow. Don't comparisons like that just make you want to buy things? The Del Mar medical spa in Bucharest hopes so, with their new ads that show women evolving from cows and whales (there is also an ad of a man evolving from a pig). Get it? We are big ugly cows (and whales) that need "medical spa" treatments to turn into toned babes (but not without a few mixed-species freako stages in the middle). When you're trying to sell a service or product to your potential customers, it's best to insult them in the most sexist and least imaginative way possible. (Click pic to see the ads.) [Copyranter]

Badvertising

Dodai — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Several commenters sent us the link to this Guinness beer commercial, which, in addition to being offensive in the way it objectifies women, raises more questions than it answers. You will hope the short, wordless film is a joke; evidence that it is not will make you reconsider ever drinking Guinness. Click to view embedded clip. UPDATE: It seems that this clip is a "comedy" piece the director made and posted "on spec," meaning he hopes to get work from it but was not paid by Guinness. [YouTube]

Here's an infuriating comment from YouTube:

Don't mind [other commenter], she's prob just a chubby resentful feminist. In my opinion this girl is objectifying men, she's got three!

Oldies But Goodies

Dodai — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:45:00 EDT

This vintage Dewar's ad features Ola Hudson, the designer best known for creating David Bowie's Man Who Fell To Earth getup. Sure, she's smoking hot, and sounds like a cool lady ("Women need some new ways to look pretty, simple and stylish," she says) but did you know she's also the mother of Slash, Guns 'N Roses fame? (Click to enlarge.) [Vintage Ads]

BMW Uses Virginity To Sell Cars • Playboy-Posing Olive Garden Employees Will Keep Their Jobs

Maria — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:40:00 EDT

Nothing smells classier than using a vaguely underage nude girl's sexual history to sell used cars. What do they use to sell new cars? • Scientists are getting favorable results from a chlamydia vaccine for koalas. • In at-least-this-woman-isn't-your-mother news: a mom pleads guilty to drugging her twin 6-year-old girls and using them to make child porn. • A 19-year-old boy from New York must write an apology to the city of Saratoga Springs for dressing in a 6-foot penis costume during his high school graduation. •

Five female Indian baseball players who qualified for the Women's World Baseball Championship couldn't afford the tickets to the event, until some philanthropic people stepped in and covered their costs.

• A British blogger who wrote about his graphic sexual exploits with women in Shanghai (and caused quite a shitstorm in China) has revealed his identity, and his (surprise!) new book! • A pair of twins, one dark-skinned, one light-skinned were birthed on Friday last week in Germany to a biracial couple. • Plans to legalize prostitution in the red light districts in the South African city of Durban for the World Cup in 2010 have been met with a a great deal of opposition from religious groups. • The sexy nurse theme of a Korean music video for a female pop singer is angering actual nurses. • Olive Garden employees who appeared in Playboy can keep their button-downs and ties: The company will not issue repercussions to women who appeared in the spread. • A 10-year-old girl who competes in bodybuilding competitions is drawing criticism from people who see it as unhealthy. • Concerned police in Australia smashed a car window while trying to rescue a "reborn" doll left alone in a car. • A 55-year-old grandma fends off two would-be robbers with claw hammers with a push broom. The pictures for this story (particularly the one with the robbers scrambling for the door) are a must see. • Puppy video! My favorite Japanese pup tries to figure out how to use his brand new iPhone 3G.

If you love AMC's Mad Men as much as we do, ...

Maria — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:40:00 EDT

If you love AMC's Mad Men as much as we do, you may be interested to meet the real women (and men) who ran the advertising industry during the '50s and '60s. As a video on AdAge's website explains, the One Club, a non-profit that focuses on advertising, has curated an exhibit called "The Real Men & Woman Of Madison Avenue" which attempts to dispel the Mad Men myth that ad agencies of the era were all about drinking and partying. Strangely, disappointingly, the exhibit is completely quiet on the topics of sexism and racism. Sure, its features women who were working in the advertising world at that time, like Phyllis Robinson, who was the chief copywriter at Doyle Dane Bernbach, but the racism portrayed in the show — like the complete absence of any people of color working in the main office beyond the snack cart — is neither refuted or explained. [AdAge, NYPL]

Big Hair Is Sexy, Cigarettes Whiten Teeth, Not Having Cellulite Is Awesome

Dodai — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Sometimes you can't even get to the heart of the editorial content of a magazine because there are so many ads. And while a few ads are innocuous, pretty or straightforward, many are just bad. Hence, Badvertising! After the jump, some of the worst advertisements from recent issues of Elle, Allure and Glamour.

Why hello there, dear. The words that come to mind immediately are "exquisite corpse." Yeah, it means something else, but damn. She is dead in the eyes. The lip gloss is purty, though! And positioning her mouth thusly doesn't make me think of swollen labia, no, not at all!!

Okay, so the copy claims that this product is "the end of overprocessed blonde," but over there on the right, Ms. Johansson's hair looks sorta overprocessed. To me. I know it's in the light, but is it supposed to look like cotton candy? Or is she imagining better tresses, hence the title "Dream Blonde"? Also, L'Oreal, You Have Taken The Title Case Thing Too Far, Methinks.

Look, I have no idea what the hell goes on under the hood of a car, but I do know that you don't need sunglasses to check out an engine. It's like they're trying to be pro-woman with a bad-ass chick mechanic, but from the way she's holding that wrench to the faux grease on her arms, it's clear she doesn't know what the fuck she's doing. "Genuine since 1937." Really? Also, this whole image is very Herb Ritts circa 1990, when Carre Otis was hot. Show me something new.

Guess what? If my birth control method fails I am not going to "Be Calm." I am going to freak the fuck out. Then I'm gonna read that thing Moe wrote about Plan B and throw up.

You know what else makes me freak out? When someone suggests that "we girls" should freak out less. We make less money than men, are expected to be thin and hairless and we have the crampy bleeds every 26 days. A body wash solves nothing. Fuck off.

Correct me if I am wrong, but waxing is not an orgasmic, kick up your heels, throw-your-head-back-in-ecstasy experience as illustrated here, is it?

The copy reads, "Unleash the enchantment of Brazil," and there's some sort of kudzu emerging from her crotch.

As a rule, if you have to put the word "SEXY" in electric lights behind you, then you are not sexy. And this is no exception. These ladies, none of whom are wearing pants, want me to believe that "big hair is sexy," and they appear to be in possession of yards and yards of extensions. And the bedraggled, voluminous crazytown hair, frankly, looks like crap. Try to count the number of times the word "sexy" appears, then ask yourself: Why is there so much going on in an ad for hairspray?

Oh, sure, I always wear a cropped white jacket and wedges to the beach. They match my enormous leather bag. Oh, wait: Is that actually Ms. Kimora Lee Simmons herself? Never mind, then. This is accurate. Move along, nothing to see here.

Pinocchio's sister dreams that someday, Diet Coke will turn her into a real girl. And cure migraines.

Haha, wow, OMG you guys, not having cellulite looks like SO MUCH FUN!

Aww, nostalgia! These happy white people have been in this same Newport ad since I was a kid. There's another one with happy black people. The greatest thing about Newport ads is how white everyone's teeth are. Smoking other cigarettes may discolor and rot your gums and give you oral cancer, but Newports are basically Crest White Strips!

40 Pages Of Harper's Bazaar May Spell The Death Of All Journalism

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Yesterday the New York Times alerted us to a deeply disturbing new publishing industry development contained in the latest Harper's Bazaar: its content is being dictated by its advertiser. "Wow, they really sold out — Hearst — didn't they?" said an "industry analyst." If only, lamented hardened cynic Jeff Berkovici, who called the Estee Lauder masterminded photo shoot "sadly in character for Hearst, which seems to be rapidly abandoning its commitment to the traditional separation between advertising and editorial." Oh, brother. Maybe Harper's editor Glenda Bailey was just trying to be more like the New Yorker when it collaborated with Target that one time! Or maybe she was just doing what she did with those Simpsons photo shoots and, you know, just not taking the fashion magazine business too seriously? Or maybe it's just summer, her job is soul-suckingly dull anyway and it was easier that way? Contributor Cheryl Campbell scanned some offending pages of the magazine after the jump so you could decide for yourselves!

(Although unrelated to the Estee Lauder promotion, Bazaar has been shilling expensive shit next to the mastheads for its editorial and publishing staff for many months now.)

Advertising 1, Journalism 0 [Portfolio]
A Cover, 40 Pages, 4 Faces And One Perfume [NY Times]

Kareful Karl

Maria — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:45:00 EDT

Road safety is so hot right now! Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has deigned to appear in a French ad promoting road safety. The copy reads: "It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything, but it could save your life," referring to a yellow reflector vest. You're supposed to wear it when your car craps out on the side of the road so you don't get hit by other cars driving past you (or when helping schoolchildren cross the road!). Of course, the thought that Karl would get out and try to fix his car if it broke down (let alone the thought of him driving himself) is kind of far-fetched. Oh well, at least he's promoting a good cause! (Click the picture to see the full ad.) [Sassybella]

Posh's MJ Ads= Everything Wrong With Fashion? • $100 Undies Promise To Rip You Off

Maria — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Are the Marc Jacobs ads with Victoria Beckham an example of everything that is wrong with fashion? Or has fashion "journalist" Liz Jones lost her sense of humor?• One more SATC analogy we don't need: HuffPo blogger calls for Obama and Clinton gals to "get on with it" (and "get it on"?). • "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Yes, yes it is. • Encyclopedia Britannica will now allow public contribution to internet entries because nothing ruins a credible reputation like copying Wikipedia! • Valentine Vester, an English woman who helped create one of the poshest hotels in Jerusalem, dies at 96. • French truckers protest high fuel prices with "operation escargot," joining similar protests across Europe and South Korea. • $100 underpants promise to take off inches without exercise through baloney "micro massage" faux-science beauty bullshit. • Doris Day's controlling third husband may have caused the actress her sanity and was abusive to her son. • Keira Knightley's mother insists her daughter doesn't have an eating disorder, noting her actor father was much thinner than Keira was. • The birthplace of Kate Moss launches its own fashion week, celebrating with celebrity look-alikes!

Anti-Aging

Sadie — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:45:00 EDT

Forty million focus groups can't be wrong! Apparently women are buying "anti-aging" products at younger and younger ages. Not that they will stop you from aging! Still: Gen Y is shelling out cash for anti-wrinkle potions and Sarah Jessica Parker, with her "feminist cred" is the one shilling them. And yes, she is 43. What does it mean? [Adweek ]

Do You Own Your Stuff Or Does Your Stuff Own You?

Dodai — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Laura Miller has a piece on Salon today titled "We Are What We Buy." Miller talks to Rob Walker, who has a new book, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are and we find out that 77% of Americans think that they are perceptive when it comes to marketing pitches. Walker himself was one of them, until Nike bought Converse. "His cherished hipster/underground brand had been swallowed by the Nike swoosh, 'a symbol for suckers who take its 'Just Do It' bullying at face value.'" Miller writes. He'd bought into the notion that Converse was about a certain non-conformist individuality. And don't we all? There are subtle signals emanating from the things we buy. It's tough not to judge someone by their Crocs, Juicy Couture or Abercrombie. Some products don't technically advertise with huge campaigns — they sponsor events or associate themselves with certain groups instead — still are thought of in a certain light, something Walker calls "murketing."

Red Bull, for instance, is "an extreme-sports beverage, a bar mixer, a midday pick-me-up, a workout booster, depending on whom you ask," says Miller. But where things get sticky — take note, ladies of Sex And The City — is not when you express yourself through your possessions. But when you let your possessions speak for you. Miller writes:

It's all too easy for people, under the influence of the siren songs of marketing (or murketing), to drift into a situation in which they use commodities "not to reflect who they are, but to construct who they are. Not to reflect a self, but to build a self."

I'll admit that this part touched a nerve. I am a collector and a maximalist, or what my mother prefers to call a "pack rat" and someone who "loves junk." (That's a portion of my bookcase, above.) I adore bags. I used to collect typewriters and lunchboxes. Sometimes I scrapbook. I save magazines, I have a stormtrooper helmet and a Bruce Lee action figure. I like street signs and Hello Kitty boomboxes; platform shoes and weird cameras. I have lots of stationery, rubber stamps, books, postcards, CDs, DVDs, costume jewelry and I find it really really really hard to throw away old t-shirts, especially if they are or were well-loved.

Do I need all this stuff? Is this stuff me? That's debatable. I have each item because I enjoy it. It's funny, meaningful, cool or associated with a memory. Would I be the same girl if I lived in an uncluttered, streamlined, minimalist apartment? Is my "stuff" actually a sign of an emotional problem? A new study by Blair Kidwell, David M. Hardesty and Terry L. Childers from the University of Kentucky says: "People with highly developed emotional sensibilities are better at making product choices." For instance: "A person can know a lot about nutrition and know what foods are not healthy, but can still make poor decisions when unable to recognize, reason, and solve problems based on emotional patterns." But when I think about my "stuff" I just think that yeah, it's cluttered, but I like it. A blank wall is boring and makes me a wee anxious. But I do wonder: Do interesting people have interesting things? Or does having interesting things make you interesting? And if not — surely there are interesting monks, for instance — why do we think possessions make a personality?

We Are What We Buy [Salon]
Emotional Intelligence Helps Make Better Product Choices [Science Daily]

Earlier: Does The Average Woman Really Have 21 Handbags?

Pork Producers Try To Win Over Women • Gang-Banger Girlfriends More Likely To Get Pregnant

Maria — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

How do you sell pork to women? Liken it to clear nail polish! • A heartbroken man in Taiwan climbed into a morgue freezer in an attempt be with his deceased girlfriend. • A group of Moldovan woman accidentally trespass in a "no girls allowed" Greek monastery after being abandoned by human traffickers in Mount Athos, Greece. • Shortage of Indian women leads female duo to dupe desperate single males out of cash by pretending to be matchmakers. • Teenage girlfriends of gang members are more likely to get pregnant than their peers. • Female judges are perceived as rude by a group of predominately male lawyers. • More female entrepreneurs are reaching for the $1 million revenue mark. • Getting catcalled by pervy doofuses or getting shot by jilted pervy doofuses: these are a young woman's options? • Guardian writer talks to stay-at-home moms about the benefits and repercussions for choosing to be a "full-time mom." • Woman who inspired "Mommy" in the "Family Circus" comic strip has died at the age of 82. • Omega-3 PUFAs may help those with perinatal depression.

Spread 'Em!

Maria — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Apparently a nice set of stems spread to frame another person is a popular motif in ads and book covers. PRINT magazine has collected examples of the "spread legs" motif over the decades and there are some striking similarities and surprises (for example, how often the aesthetic was used on men in old Western novels). But it's clear that, when using womens' bodies to shill shit, some things never change. [PRINT via Boing Boing]

Singapore Slings

Maria — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Singapore has unveiled some new ads raising awareness for verbal domestic abuse with some freaky imagery. The ads feature enraged men with fists coming out of their mouths and punching/grabbing-at distressed-looking women. The ads are certainly explicit with their message, and the eerie supernatural feeling definitely grabs your attention (if it doesn't give you a few nightmares). [AdFreak]

WNBA Wants Players To Focus On Their Lipstick As Well As Their Layups

Jessica — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:40:00 EDT

The hottie to the left is Candace Parker, the Tennessee forward and number 1 WNBA draft pick. She's the first female to dunk in a college game, but that alone isn't why she is expected, by some, to raise the entire profile of the WNBA. Candace has already signed endorsements with Adidas and Gatorade, and, according to Adidas flack Travis Gonzalez, "She's unlike any other athlete...You look at Candace and she's the first female to dunk in a college game, probably the best female player ever. On the other side, she's an attractive girl. She's a beautiful young lady and she has a savvy sense of fashion." As the Chicago Tribune points out, the WNBA gets a fraction of the airtime that men's sports get, and so in order to maximize their marketing potential, as part of rookie training the WNBA has offered hour-long sessions on, yes, make-up and fashion tips.

Susan Ziegler, a sports psychologist, thinks that the focus on the players' appearances isn't healthy for the athletes, as it diminishes their legitimacy. "Once you begin to worry about how the person looks as opposed to how she plays, you've crossed the line into dangerous play," Ziegler said to the Trib. "We're not really focused on marketing them as athletes but as feminine objects."

We live in a looksist society — you can be sure that Michael Jordan made so much money on endorsements not only because he was the best player in the NBA, but also because he was gorgeous. You think Larry Bird made anywhere near that kind of dough? But the WNBA's assumption that the perceived attractiveness of their players will draw men — and otherwise disinterested females — to the court seems foolhardy. Whenever I hear a man complain about women's basketball, he's whining that the quality of play is somehow inferior to that in the NBA, not that the players are "ugly". The Chicago Tribune asked Ziegler for advice on how to market Parker, and she offered, "As a pure athlete... As the top athlete in the country. Leave it at that."

WNBA Offers Advice To Rookies [Chicago Tribune]

Earlier: Tennessee Lady Vols Trounce Stanford To Win NCAA Title

When It Comes To Alcoholism, Women Are Closing The Gender Gap

Jessica — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Though women are still lagging behind men when it comes to salary, ladies are gaining on dudes in at least one respect: alcoholism. According to a new and comprehensive cross-sectional study of existing data, there has been a substantial increase in general drinking and alcohol dependence among women, particularly Hispanic women, starting with those born after WWII. (Alcohol use and abuse among men has remained consistent over the years.) Experts attribute this increase to a number of factors. Richard A. Grucza, a Washington University School of Medicine epidemiologist and co-author of the data analysis used an "immigration" analogy to explain the up tick in alcohol abuse among women. Grucza tells Science Daily, "We can think of U.S. culture as having been traditionally dominated by white men. As women have 'immigrated' into this culture, they have become 'acculturated' with regard to alcohol use."

What's interesting is that African-Ameircan women have the lowest rates of alcohol abuse, and Grucza attributes this to the fact that by and large, they have yet to "immigrate" into the dominant culture. "Black women...have a second barrier between them and the dominant U.S. culture, namely, their race," Grucza points out. "That may be keeping them from adopting the standards of the dominant culture with respect to alcohol use."

Shelly F. Greenfield, associate clinical director of the Alcohol Abuse Treatment Program at McLean Hospital, suggests that alcohol education programs be designed that are specifically geared towards women, primarily concerning the "gender differences in metabolism of alcohol, and the associated heightened female vulnerability to alcohol's adverse health consequences at lower doses than men."

If Greenfield's suggestions are taken to heart, and alcohol abuse and education programs are formatted for women, they'll probably work, as Amstel Light has proven. When the beer company started advertising their product specifically to women, Amstel Light volume rose 13%, according to USA Today. If we can be enticed to buy beer, we can be enticed not to.

Alcoholism Is Not Just A 'Man's Disease' Anymore [Science Daily]
Women Take Stage In Beer Ads [USA Today]

Ad Libs

Dodai — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:20:00 EDT

New billboards for Damskaya, a Russian Vodka aimed at women, (which we've written about before) have hit the metro stations in Moscow. The tagline, "Between us girls," is meant to lure chicks to the booze, because, says Natalya Shumilina, marketing director of the distillery, "In Russia, vodka is definitely a masculine product." But Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's surgeon general, is not pleased. "Most likely, the next step will be infant's vodka for infant consumption," he says. He thinks Russia's consumer protection agency should look into filing charges against the Vodka's distillery for violating consumer rights laws. But here's question: How do we feel about the Marilyn Monroe upskirt shot? [NY Times]

CBS News Curmudgeon Calls Bullshit On Harper's Bazaar, Vogue

Anna — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT

"Do women who look at these ads think they'll look like her if they wear these clothes... what there is of them?" asked Andy Rooney on last night's 60 Minutes. Good question! Armed with a stack of women's magazines marked with Post-Its (September 2007 Vogue, November 2007 Harper's Bazaar) the legendary grump questioned the advertising seen in periodicals sitting around the 60 Minutes offices. "I often wonder whether the magazines are doing the right thing for themselves," he mused after critiquing ads and models shilling for Dior (Jessica Stam), Michael Kors (Carmen Kass), and Lord & Taylor (Carolyn Murphy). Interestingly — tellingly — Rooney made no distinction between paid advertising and fashion editorial, even though he was ostensibly talking about "ads". Too bad he was looking at last fall's issues; we'd love to know what he thinks of those ridiculous Balenciaga boots.

Earlier: Valentino In Vogue: Models With Ennui Playing Invisible Croquet
Why Don't I Love Shoes? An Exploration In Photos

Food For Thought

dodai — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:40:00 EST

A guy named Steve at The Sneeze has noticed that there aren't very many female cereal mascots! Count Chocula, Cap'n Crunch, the Trix bunny — so much breakfast sausage, says Steve. We've actually been working on writing about girl product icons, so stay tuned. In the meantime, one question: Does Mary Lou Retton on a Wheaties box count as a mascot? [Feminist Law Professors, The Sneeze]