Photoshopping ads seems to be a very touchy subject. Personally I feel that it is okay to use Photoshop in ads; but in moderation. It's one thing to fix a blemish and a completely different thing to completely remove body parts.
In the Forever 21 ad it's pretty obvious that whoever was doing the Photoshop editing took it a little too far (and didn't do a very good job); I don't think it's right to change how a person actually looks. Honestly I don't see why the company would even want to remove a part of the model, especially when that showcases the look and fit of the product. Although many people realize that most models and celebrities are photoshopped to look a certain way it still creates an unattainable body image that some people will go to extremes to have.
Photoshop should be used to fix small blemishes or imperfections (because no is expecting to see a model or celebrity with pimples or other blemishes) but it shouldn't be used to change a person's body. That's just crazy. And it could be used to add effects to images, like filters or whatever might be needed to fit the feel of the ad.
If companies are going to continue to airbrush their models to ridiculous standards they should have to state it somewhere on their site that the models have been altered. People have the right to know when they are looking at something that has been altered.
I also feel like companies that feel the need to airbrush their models are also saying something about themselves. Obviously the companies have a strange and very high standard as to who should be wearing their clothing if even a super thin model isn't thin enough.
tl;dr: Photoshop in ads is okay to fix small things but shouldn't be used to completely change a person's appearance.
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Mic Mac Mall Back To School Campaign
The Mic Mac Mall in Nova Scotia launched an ad campaign in the late summer in preparation for back to school. The ads included stylish images of cartoon girls shopping and catchy little slogans relating shopping to school. However, the campaign was pulled not long after it started; they were receiving a lot of complaints claiming the ads were 'sexist'.
Personally I don't find the ads to be sexist. They get the message across clearly and are visually well designed. I understand why some people may find these ads to be sexist or demeaning; there are no male characters in the ad and the chosen text makes it seem like all girls think about is shopping, clothes, etc. But let's be honest: young girls probably thought these ads were awesome, and those young girls are exactly who they were targeting. I also feel that if there had been any boys in the ads they (the guys in the mall) wouldn't have found it as appealing as girls because of the way the ads were designed.
Doing some research into the issue, I found that it was mostly older women, who are in University or graduated who find these ads to be sexist. I don't think that they fully understand what these ads are trying to do. The younger generations now are completely different from how the younger generations of the past were; the world is changing and so are the people in it. Having grown up in the generation that first saw the boom of computers, social media and all things technological I feel I have a better understanding of what today's youth find appropriate and 'cool' versus what the past generations may have felt.
I believe if the ad would have included young men as well as women it wouldn't have gotten any publicity (bad publicity); people would have seen the ads but no one would have said anything. The fact that people were noticing that there were only women in the ads seems strange to me (I wouldn't have noticed). To me this means that there are still women out there who don't feel like we're equal to men (although there really isn't much of a gap in today's open and accepting society).
Although the campaign probably had an adverse effect on the mall's brand (I feel safe saying most people felt this whole 'scandal' to be laughable), I don't think it should have. The ads fit nicely with the rest of the mall's branding and they did a good job targeting their desired audience.
Personally I don't find the ads to be sexist. They get the message across clearly and are visually well designed. I understand why some people may find these ads to be sexist or demeaning; there are no male characters in the ad and the chosen text makes it seem like all girls think about is shopping, clothes, etc. But let's be honest: young girls probably thought these ads were awesome, and those young girls are exactly who they were targeting. I also feel that if there had been any boys in the ads they (the guys in the mall) wouldn't have found it as appealing as girls because of the way the ads were designed.
Doing some research into the issue, I found that it was mostly older women, who are in University or graduated who find these ads to be sexist. I don't think that they fully understand what these ads are trying to do. The younger generations now are completely different from how the younger generations of the past were; the world is changing and so are the people in it. Having grown up in the generation that first saw the boom of computers, social media and all things technological I feel I have a better understanding of what today's youth find appropriate and 'cool' versus what the past generations may have felt.
I believe if the ad would have included young men as well as women it wouldn't have gotten any publicity (bad publicity); people would have seen the ads but no one would have said anything. The fact that people were noticing that there were only women in the ads seems strange to me (I wouldn't have noticed). To me this means that there are still women out there who don't feel like we're equal to men (although there really isn't much of a gap in today's open and accepting society).
Although the campaign probably had an adverse effect on the mall's brand (I feel safe saying most people felt this whole 'scandal' to be laughable), I don't think it should have. The ads fit nicely with the rest of the mall's branding and they did a good job targeting their desired audience.
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