It is common knowledge that the advertising industry emphasizes physical perfection in women and turns their bodies into objects. You can open any magazine or paper and see ads with women that have no other connection to the advertised product than to be an eye-catcher. Studies show that women that are exposed to sexist ads rate themselves as fatter than the ideal woman, men on the other hand rate themselves as thinner.
Advertising often portray women with a tight waist, large breasts, red puffing lips and long slender legs. Such ads give women unrealistic notions of what they should look like. So I start thinking when I see Coop's new advertising campaign where they use vegetables to depict body parts, female body parts obviously. No male bodies allowed here.
Maybe I'm just being sensitive. But it can't be easy being a woman. They are competing with photoshopped models with cosmetic surgery, and now - vegetables. The theme of the campaign is "beauty comes from within". That's not the same as saying it's what's inside that counts.
Tags: advertising, women.
