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ENC 1101March 24, 2015Advertisement Paper What It Takes To Be SkinnyPicture yourself walking through a crowded city filled with tourists from all over the world. What is the first thing that you notice as you are strolling by? Advertisements! Varying from positive ads to negative ads, they are everywhere. People do not stop and take the time to actually realize what they are looking at. Many people are intrigued by the big picture of skinny sexy women plastered on the side of a building but don't take the time to interpret its message. Many of the Americans are blinded by the fact that the majority of these ads are promoting negative and false messages. These ads promote the idea that being skinny and having a perfect body is imperative in order to fit in todays society. This fallacy is absorbed daily by every girl in America. If more ads were created promoting the opposite message, people will notice a change in the attitudes of women and people from all over the world.The ad Skinny Water is very colorful and vibrant which is an attractive feature that will catch the attention to anyone who takes a first glance at it. The bright colors of the ad make everything seem happy and joyful as if the product will bring joy to your life. This is the wrong idea that is being portrayed. The people are being blinded by the colorful water and missing the big picture. By including the motto strut your skinny the ad advertises the idea of being skinny. This can create a lot of problems amongst some of the female population. The ad is also showing four female models. They are being portrayed as very chic and fashionable women. Their posture says a lot about their attitude and how they have the mentality of thinking they are the best of the best. The goal is to get girls to think that when you drink this Skinny water, you will come out feeling on top of the world. These results are not going to come magically out of nowhere. Women have to realize that if they want the perfect body, there has to be lots of work and effort put into it. Nothing is for free in this life. Caballero 2

The anti ad strategy created to negate the skinny message has transformed this negative view originating a whole different spin and perspective. The ad incorporated girls from all shapes and sizes in order to not implement in peoples minds the false message that women have to be one size in order to fit in in this world. The original ad focused on one size in particular which in reality, is not natural and pure beauty. Beauty has many definitions, shapes and sizes. It is not something that is concrete and static. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone looks at it from different perspectives yielding different answers every time. This makes beauty a very special concept. It simply cannot be objectively defined. In the anti-ad, the vibrant colors were left to stimulate happiness and positive thoughts with being yourself and trying to not pretend you are something different. The models used in the picture were also portrayed from different cultures and body shapes. This is to convey a message to be proud of who you are and to not pay attention to the negative insults from the world that may come towards you. In todays world, many girls have the mentality that they have to be skinny in order to fit in and be beautiful. This shallow mentality can stem from the ads that are being presented through many kinds of social media. In addition to the excess amount of pressure expected from females every day, worrying about their body image should not be one of them. By promoting this original ad, the media is not helping the situation to any extent. The reason for all of this pressure brought upon society is due to advertisements being presented in their everyday lives. The way girls think about how they need to look and act is mainly due to the negative advertisements. This advertisement sends out a subliminal message to the viewers. Whenever people see vibrant colors, they associate the product being sold to something that makes them feel very joyful. In their mind, drinking skinny water, which is a type of drink that is not supposed to make you fat after drinking it, is something that will bring them happiness in life. Girls who start to drink skinny water can affect their self-esteem to a point where it can be dangerous. The editor of Seventeen Magazines states, 70 percent of women feel depressed, guilty, and shameful after seeing ads that incorporate skinny models (qtd. Shoket) For example, girls who start to drink this skinny water end up becoming frustrated and upset because they did not reach the expectations that the ad showed them they would achieve. Because of that statistic, the anti-ad should be the one being distributed and plastered everywhere for everyone to see because it will decrease that statistic. A lot of women wont feel that big of a pressure being pressed into their head. There are many negative effects that are permeating from this ad. This ad is indirectly yelling out to the public all negative things and some women are not realizing it. Like mentioned previously, there is a lot of pressure already on the women of our society. This ad in particular is not one that should be flaunted all over television and on the streets of many cities. Since the ad is making women believe in erroneous and deceiving ideas, it can lead to many negative effects such as depression, anorexia, and low self-esteem. These three things go hand in hand and one leads to the other. It can also lead to more extreme measures such as attempted suicide and death. A lot of the women are unaware of what they are putting themselves through. It is such a tragedy to watch the girls do horrible things to themselves just to try and live up to the expectations portrayed by this ad of Skinny Water. The anti-ad does a good job of turning that negative quality of the original ad into a positive one. The ad incorporates positive phrases that will motivate women in every aspect of life and not just looks. Self-esteem, physically and mentally, is very important and it is something that should not be messed with. Caballero 3Caballero 4

Many people in the United States look up to the wonderful models and tend to imitate everything about them because they see them as the most beautiful people in the world. A study called the Chameleon effect stated, This effect is the natural tendency to imitate another persons speech inflections and physical expressions (Chartrand and Bargh.) The actions of the models are transmitted to the public in the most negative way possible. Many girls look up to older beautiful figures they see around them. Girls tend to imitate and aspire to be just as beautiful as the models are. At times, some people take it to the extreme and the outcome turns out to be something that is not healthy. Many girls already feel unhappy and uncomfortable with their body. Oprah Fashion and Beauty states, 70 percent of teenagers do not like their body appearance. This is a very high and shocking statistic. Girls would do anything imaginable to change their bodily figure. Some girls go the extreme and stop eating just so they can lose the weight. According to EDNOS In the United States, 20 million women suffer from an eating disorder at some time in their life (Wade, Keski-Rahkonen, and Hudson, 2011.) Can you believe the amount of women who take extreme measures just to be like their role model plastered on the side of the building? This is unjust and should be taken with great precaution.Caballero 5

This ad as well as many other related ads in the media industry are also affecting the older and younger population of women. According to Mirror Mirror Eating Disorders, Over 50 percent of 9 and 10 year olds feel better about themselves if they are on a diet. The media is brainwashing all of the girls for the worse. The media is displaying so many ads on being skinny and so many pictures that relate to having the perfect body. Girls from a young age become accustomed to that and grow up thinking that is the way you have to be in order to fit in with everyone and be pretty. For example, small girls love to play with dolls. The dolls that are manufactured come out to be super skinny, tall, blonde, and with blue eyes. This is a stereotype of what it means to be a beautiful woman. All of the little girls want to look exactly like their dolls and that is not the right mentality. Each and every day, it is becoming harder to distinguish what is real and what is not. The little girls do not know any better and believe everything they see. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) states, 11,326 teens underwent breast augmentations in 2004, compared to 1992 when 978 girls had the procedure done (Sena, 2004). This shows how much of an impact the ads have on the young girls of the United States. Girls will take extreme measures just to fit in and look to what they think is beautiful.There is a great amount of irony with this type of advertising. The media is always telling the viewers to love themselves for who they are no matter what they look like. Then you see multiple ads displaying that being skinny is the only shape a girl should be. These ads are giving false expectations to all of the girls and women who read it. According to Central Penn Business Journal, 92 percent of the people surveyed reported they do not pay attention to advertisements. This statement is false and is a myth. The average person can typically name hundreds of brands that they see on television or anywhere on the streets. By just giving them a few hints, they will instantly remember what they saw after saying that they dont pay attention to the advertisements. According to Central Penn Business Journals, Our minds retain a great deal of what we supposedly do not pay attention to according to our conscious statements. Many people claim that they do not pay attention to advertisements. But after being exposed to the same kinds of ads over a period of time, the message will eventually stick to your mind and you will start to believe in what the ad is trying to portray. This ad is not exemplifying anything positive to girls and women in America. By making these ads public for everyone to see, it is giving false hope to all of the women. They feel the need to be just like the girls portrayed in the ad because that is the style. This is definitely the wrong idea to pursue. Making women feel the need to be as perfect as the models can lead to endless amounts of negative outcomes.Caballero 6

A very few percentage of people are naturally as skinny as the models with their perfect features. According to Ideal Bite News, 95 percent of what you see in fashion magazines is retouched. The people who look at the models seem to forget that they are fantasies and not reality. Every girl is often jealous of how the models look. Would you be so jealous if you knew how airbrushed and fake the picture is? The media is creating such an unbelievable world that it is hard to trust what you read and see anymore. We live in a society where your body image means everything and without the perfect image, you are irrelevant to society. Every time you see ads on television or plastered throughout the streets, all you see are skinny and beautiful people. People seem to forget the excessive amount of retouching that goes behind that picture. Those models are a completely different species than what we are. We have natural beauty inside and out. The models and actresses that people see as perfect are really far from it. Everyone is unique in their own special way and that is what makes people so interesting. It is very ironic actually when it comes to these ads. American women are constantly encouraged to look their best in the most natural way possible. If we buy their beauty products, we will have the most natural beauty that anyone has seen. Moreover, the women who are modeling for the product are the complete opposite of natural. Some of the models do not know what it means to be natural. Sadly, there are very few images left that have not been retouched or altered.Caballero 7

No matter how hard women try to be as perfect as the models, they are never going to accomplish the goal. Perfection does not exist. Perfection is a very broad and subjective term. It has different meanings for different people. Something that might be perfect to them might not seem perfect to you. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is a tremendous amount of pressure being brought upon women in society and it is definitely not justifiable. Many negative effects have been noticed by society. The ads have to undergo a drastic change to stop creating stereotypes on women.

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Works Cited

"Body Image Of Women." RSS 20. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2014."Body Image Statistics - How Women Feel About Their Looks." Oprah.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014."Chameleon Effect." The and Chartrand & Bargh Experiments. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 July 2014.Lebrecht, Megan. "Teens And Breast Implants." Teens And Breast Implants. UTSA Women Gender Studies, n.d. Web.Powell, Camira. "Seventeen Magazine Promises Not To Photoshop Its Models." Mic. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014."Prevalence vs. Funding." Get The Facts On Eating Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2014."The Whiteboard: The Biggest Lie in Marketing: I Don't Pay Attention to Advertising. Au Contraire." Central Penn Business Journal. N.p., 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 July 2014."100 Percent of What You See In Fashion Magazines Is Retouched - IdealBite." IdealBite. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.

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