lady magazine ads: the good and the bad

Perhaps it's not the most intellectual thing I do, but I love reading women's magazine (thought I do generally draw the line at Cosmo). I might mockingly recite the horoscopes out loud but I genuinely enjoy reading them. However, even in my lighthearted fun reading time, it's hard not to notice the split between their rhetoric of "love yourself! Your body is great!" and their articles about the latest scary celebrity trends in weight loss (such as this one from Marie Claire!). 

Of course, the cynic in me crows that these magazines are clearly smart and sustaining their sales by giving women enough of the self-esteem boosting good stuff to make them happy but reminding them of their room for improvement and ever-evolving list of bodily flaws/solutions to worry about through advertisements and articles to keep them buying again and again (they've absolutely got me hooked). Consider Cosmo: every month features at least one diet ad in the back pages (ZANTREX is a popular one), along with workout advice supplied by Tracy Anderson (a celebrity trainer whose uber-rich clientele includes Gwyneth Paltrow) who believes/brags about her skills in helping women of any body type fit into the small definition of perfection (the damn subtitle of her book promises as much: the Weight-Loss Kick-Start That Makes Perfection Possible), along with tips on how to be more confident (or at least fake it in the bedroom. For his fragile ego, of course).

But nowhere is this dichotomy better captured than in their ad content.

Marie Claire (often diet obsessed, but balanced out with a decent focus on global women's experiences) this month has the two page ad by Essie, fancy ass nail polish company, shown below.

the sheriff's own photography. and warped bright blue table.

Wicked. That's a strong fucking word. And kind of uncalled for in reference to the dessert pictured. Guilt over food? Unnecessary. Small fudge sundae (without toppings, I might add)? NOT WICKED.

But Glamour's ad from Makeup Forever gave the beauty industry's efforts a bit of redemption.

please forgive the glare

Yes, it's an ad featuring a young, white, blond, thin female with perfectly done makeup. BUT! It's an unretouched ad (certified by a public notary, according to the fine print), which means that although she may fit into a very specific and small definition of beautiful, at least this is her and her beauty, not some fake even more perfect version (granted, this is her with special lighting and makeup done by a professional, but still!).

Is this progress? What do you think about the moves to more "realistic" ads and fashion pages in magazines, especially the use of plus-size models?

Much love,
The Sheriff