Do we really need to be empowered by advertising?

News Type: Other — Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:27 PM EDT

We feel beautiful. It says so in the advertising.

Over time, advertising has been accused of many things, from beer guts (surely that can't be blamed on advertising?) to the mysterious craving to go to White Castle for square-burgers to unreal expectations about things in life. But isn't advertising about selling more stuff?

Can I be Empowered? Pretty Please?

More and more brands are talking about empowering, enabling people to go out and do great and wonderful things – after buying their products of course. Psychologist have known this for years now, that we want and need approval for most of our actions. Just to know that it is OK for us to do things or to feel a certain way.

Nike is a good example of how it empowers you to go out and just do it.. whatever that "it" is. Over the years I have not been able to figure out what that "it," is. Perhaps I am not Nike's target audience. Of course, I do have a pair of nice Nike sneakers, and the only thing I do is go shopping in them on weekends or walk to the bar on casual Fridays!!

I Empower Thee To Be Beautiful

Now here is a perfect example. For over two years Dove has been running a campaign called the Campaign For Real Beauty. The purpose of the campaign, and I paraphrase with great liberty here, is for real women to feel beautiful. Apparently it has empowered women from across the world from Europe to Asia to Australia to feel beautiful by being exactly who they are. What an idea?

It is a wonderfully insightful campaign, executed in a relevant manner in a truly global way. As far as the brand is concerned it is a successful campaign. It has generated the necessary response required of such a campaign and has received enough attention for it's efforts. And I am sure that sales have been quite good too.

We (don't) Have The Power

But why do we need advertising to "empower us," why do we need strangers, sitting in their air conditioned offices want to "empower us," for things that we should be doing on our own? I mean a little encouragement now and then is fine, but "enabling," us?

Do women really need Dove to tell them that it is OK to be themselves? Do we honestly need Nike to urge us to go out and just do it?

Think 2.0

Since the good old Think 1.0 was not working, perhaps we need a Think 2.0. We need to be more critical of the things we read and hear on mass media – we need to be able to think and analyze the information we receive.

Advertising is all about selling more stuff – no matter what guise it comes in. The annoying used car salesmen is but an obvious and highly visible part of what advertising is. Just because you skip the ads on TV doesn't mean that you are not exposed to advertising. It is everywhere you are because advertisers know where you are. They know where you live, what you drive, where you shop and what makes you tick. They will find a way to reach you.

The only defense is to be critical and Think. We need to be aware that we are being advertised to. What we do with that knowledge is up to us, but we need to know. Now that I am done with this, I will go out and check out the pair of really cool Nike Shox that I found on the Nike website, afterwards I will go for that light beer - you know the one that is sponsoring the NFL.

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2.3

2.1

{"commentId":332191,"authorDomain":"davidmcgirr"}

David Mc Girr

Good article. The media needs to be looked at a little closer, now more than ever.

-Dave

{"commentId":332191,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"davidmcgirr"}

#1 - Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:14 PM EDT

{"commentId":332436,"authorDomain":"jasonford"}

Jason Ford

An advertiser's job is to sell a product. That's what they get paid to do. As long as they do so without lying about their product's benefits then I don't see a problem. The real problem is the people who believe some of these advertisements. If you're not happy with yourself now, no amount of special soap or special shoes is going to make you happy (A certain amount of special beer may make you happy, but only for a short while).

{"commentId":332436,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"jasonford"}

1 vote

#2 - Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:19 PM EDT

{"commentId":333017,"authorDomain":"thura"}

Thura

The real problem is the people who believe some of these advertisements. If you're not happy with yourself now, no amount of special soap or special shoes is going to make you happy

Exactly. Howevere, I know of a couple of beverages that can make one happy a bit longer than that.

{"commentId":333017,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"thura"}

1 vote

#2.1 - Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:39 PM EDT

{"commentId":332670,"authorDomain":"noah"}

Noah Bradley

Isn't it a bit ironic to criticize advertising when you're using Advertising Rule #1 in your article (use scantily clad women to make your point)?

;)

Nice article, actually. I do tend to side with advertisers, though.

{"commentId":332670,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"noah"}

2 votes

#3 - Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:00 PM EDT

{"commentId":333015,"authorDomain":"thura"}

Thura

Works all the time, doesn't it?

I hope you didn't read that as critical to advertising, it was more of "buyer beware" type of article, also the fact that we as consumers have somehow stopped thinking for ourselves.

{"commentId":333015,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"thura"}

1 vote

#3.1 - Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:36 PM EDT

{"commentId":333307,"authorDomain":"davidmcgirr"}

David Mc Girr

The public are always underestimated by the media. So a company comes along and says "We're here to help against the big bad advertisers", like we're just sitting at home ordering each item as we see it on television. The public are a lot smarter than advertisers think, they just need a good boycott scare to wake them up.

-Dave

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#3.2 - Tue Oct 17, 2006 8:45 AM EDT

{"commentId":336322,"authorDomain":"thura"}

Thura

I am not sure what you are referring to or what company you are referring to..

So a company comes along and says "We're here to help against the big bad advertisers",

All I am saying is that lets all be smart about it. A good consumer is an educated consumer!!

{"commentId":336322,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"thura"}

#3.3 - Thu Oct 19, 2006 1:49 AM EDT

{"commentId":804243,"authorDomain":"sinthyus"}

Nina Nealon

Question: Are you unaware of the chronic low self-esteem in women world-wide over unrealistic and false beauty "standards" personified in Hollywood and the MEDIA, which manefests itself through anorexia, plastic surgery, domestic violence and so forth? I mean, are you completely unaware of America's Next Top Model, Lara Flynn Boyle, the Olsen Twins, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Real Desperate Housewives of Orange County, etc? Are you a complete cultural hermit? That's the only reason i can think of for an excuse for an article like this that claims ignorance.

The other day, sitting in the doctor's office, I saw a Dove ad with a woman with an interesting stomach. It looked like mine! And next to her, it said her name and "age 26". Well, I'm 24. I liked seeing a normal stomach in a magazine. If all you see in advertising is 100% smooth, airbrushed and flawless skin, YOU as a woman might not be phased, but idiots who are easily brainwashed (something like oh, 95% of the world considering the success of pop music) start to emulate what they see all around them and expect it to be true as well in average citizens.

Dove Real Beauty makes sense considering the other end of beauty ads. Unless you've never been to a Duane Read or picked up a copy of VOGUE you're basically covering your eyes and plugging your ears and saying "Hey, what's up with this, I'm bewildered, women don't need good role models in the beauty industry. They have PLENTY already."

{"commentId":804243,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"sinthyus"}

1 vote

#4 - Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:09 AM EDT

{"commentId":804261,"authorDomain":"thura"}

Thura

Hi Nina. Thanks for the comment, but I think you missed the point of it.

Dove is first and foremost about selling more Dove. Like any good marketer they know their target audience well and they have found a 'good cause,' to sponsor - in this case it is all about being yourself. The campaign is all about making you and their target audience feel good about their self- image. It is a powerful message. A good message.

What I question is, why do we, as consumers need companies/advertising/brands to tell us that we should be OK with our self-image or not. Why do we need them to affirm to us that being ourselves is OK.

This is just me, but I'd rather make up my own mind if I am OK or not. I'd rather not have MEDIA telling me what is OK and what is not OK.

{"commentId":804261,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"thura"}

#4.1 - Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:49 AM EDT

{"commentId":2525025,"authorDomain":"florentine"}

Florentine

Do women really suffer from chronic low self esteem because of fashion magazines? Dove's "proof" that this is the case was a survey that claimed that only 2% of women say themselves as beautiful. But considering that the definition of beauty is "unusually attractive," maybe the 98% who don't consider themselves beautiful are just being realistic about themselves. As for anorexia, it's a horrible disorder but a relatively rare one, and those who get it tend to be upper-middle class girls with demanding, perfectionist parents. Working class girls (who see just as many ads as wealtheir ones) tend not to develop this disorder.

In other words, the average woman over 18 may not need a "typical" looking woman gamely grinning and posing in blah looking white underwear to empower her.

{"commentId":2525025,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"florentine"}

#5 - Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:48 AM EDT

{"commentId":2525501,"authorDomain":"thura"}

Thura

Thanks for comment. Anecdotal evidence suggest that women are more critical about their looks, more so then men. That is why a lot of brands get away by playing off on the insecurities of women to sell their stuff.

{"commentId":2525501,"threadId":"48128","contentId":"402323","authorDomain":"thura"}

#5.1 - Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:18 AM EDT

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THURA

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Do we really need to be empowered by advertising?

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