Advertising Is Good For You

The Japanese will pretty-up just about anything

I'm in awe.

Source: CScout Japan

"Why women need catalogs."

CLICK HERE to watch this German spot for a retail catalog.

Democratic yoga pants

Yogawear for all levels.

Advertising Agency: Rethink Communications, Vancouver

Source: Ads of the World

Something is sitting on Victoria Beckham's head. Something furry.

The newest images of Victoria Beckham promoting Marc Jacobs.

Uh... Hmmm... The necklace is kind of nice.

To see images of Victoria Beckham from a previous Marc Jacobs campaign, CLICK HERE.

New Candie's ad featuring Hayden Panettiere

Standing on the Dove soapbox

I'm one of the few who wasn't a huge fan of the original Dove advertising "campaign for real beauty." Sure, I loved the theory of it . . . That "real" women with "real" bodies (as opposed to rail-thin models who've had every flaw photoshopped away) are beautiful, too. I'm just too cynical to believe the sincerity of the ads. You'd have a hard time convincing me that most of the people involved in creating those images actually believed that the "real" women they were using were as beautiful as the models typically used in ads. And I couldn't help but notice that the "real" women were all very toned and not one of them had any cellulite.

If Dove were still using this campaign ten years from now, I might be impressed. But they've already abandoned the "real" bodies (their popularity waned) for more traditional concepts of beauty.

 

The overweight woman has been made up, blown out and put into slimming black; the freckled woman and the gray-haired woman are both pretty enough to be models; and somehow Dove found a 95-year-old with a naturally taut neck.

This Kenneth Cole ad, on the other hand, strikes me as a more genuine exclamation that women needn't be perfect to be gorgeous.

The hottie in the ad is Aimee Mullins, "paralympic athlete, actor and president of the Women's Sports Foundation." It isn't until closer inspection of the photo that one realizes she's wearing prosthetic legs from the knees down.

This ad isn't nearly as self-conscious as the Dove ads. Because it doesn't yell, 'See, physically challenged women can be beautiful, too!' Rather, it says, 'Beautiful, isn't she? Oh, yeah, she's physically challenged, too.' To me, that's the difference between an ad that believes what it's communicating and one that's trying too hard to be convincing.

Nudity that's not's gratuitous

Personally, I like these ads. A lot.

The value proposition comes through loud and clear: these pads are so thin you won't know you're wearing them.

And the nudity strongly supports the message.

Advertising Agency: Grey South Africa

Source: Ads of the World

Keds' ad campaign with Mischa Barton

To see the accompanying TV spot, visit Teddy and Moo.

Miu Miu's ad campaign with Kirsten Dunst

Click here to see the rest of the ad campaign.

Victoria Beckham's new ads for Marc Jacobs

The first two are interesting, but the third one is rather vulgar -- not to mention those dumbass shoes.

Source: A Socialite's Life