Women born in the 1950s and 1960s are spending $47 billion a year on fashion, accrording to numbers released by NPD Group, a market research firm.
That's about 45% of the total that American women spend on fashion.
And that explains the huge advertising budgets devoted to... Oh... Wait...
Via Daily Mail, Answer Bag
Paul & Joe's Spring 2012 Collection of cosmetics is delightfully kittenish.
Lipstick:
Face and eye color:
Pressed powder:
Click here to see a Barbie-themed Stila cosmetics collection.
Via Design Sponge
TV spot for Summer's Eve 'personal cleansing' products for women.
TV commercial for women's clothing retailer, Coldwater Creek.
The FBI spent $50,000 on an ad campaign to help catch a mobster/murderer on the agency's Ten Most Wanted list. And it worked.
Boston mobster Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, had been on the run for 16 years. The FBI manhunt was worldwide. The reward for information leading to Whitey Bulger's capture was originally $1 million but was raised to $2 million a few years ago.
So why was this effort by the FBI successful when others failed? Many speculate it's because this campaign targeted women and, instead of featuring Whitey Bulger, the ads featured Catherine Greig. Sure enough, someone recognized her. The tip led to the arrest of the duo.
Click here to watch the FBI TV commercial that helped catch mobster Whitey Bulger.
I hope the tipster gets the $2 million reward for helping to catch Whitey Bulger. The reward for Catherine Greig's capture was only $50,000.
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The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr is a great read detailing the rise of the ruthless mobster and his sleazy brother, former Boston politician Billy Bulger.
Pretty sure I'm in the age group this double-spread ad is targeting. There's a desperation and inappropriateness here I find insulting. If I heard my daughter's boyfriend had told her he thought I was hot, I'd tell her to dump the creep.
Click images to enlarge.
British officials have banned a Rimmel mascara campaign for being misleading.
The TV spot features Georgia May Jagger (daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall) modeling three different lash looks supposedly created by Rimmel's 1-2-3 Looks Mascara.
Trouble is, the ad features tiny print that mentions the photos were "shot with lash inserts," double speak for false eyelashes.
The British Advertising Standards Authority thinks the campaign is cheating and ordered it pulled.
Good.
Too bad American companies aren't held to the same high standard.
As any woman familiar with American fashion magazines can tell you, mascara ads in this country typically feature models who are wearing false eyelashes or have had their lashes digitally lengthened to outrageous lengths.
To prove my point, here are cropped photos from all the mascara ads featured in the November 2010 issue of In Style magazine. Click the images to enlarge them and get a true sense of how ridiculous the eyelashes appear.
American women are used to this type of blatant deception in our cosmetic ads. But that doesn't make it right.
Via StyleList
Cami Secret is a false shirt front intended to help women avoid showing too much cleavage.
The infomercial is unintentionally funny. Funnier still is the parody spot that combines the Cami Secret infomercial footage with a different voiceover to sell the fictitious Boob Apron.
Hell, yes, the parody is sexist. But intentionally so.
Personally, I think the parody is much more insulting to men as it reinforces stereotypically piggish male behavior.
Click here to watch the actual infomercial for the Cami Secret. You don't have to watch the whole thing to get the idea.
In 1990, there was plenty of sexism in advertising, to be sure. I just don't remember it being this blatant.
From my other blog, Found in Mom's Basement.
Learned about heels.com on Twitter. It's a Facebook page where one can buy women's shoes -- shoes at prices that are much more reasonable than those at Bergdorf Goodman.
Go shoe shopping at heels.com.
