16 May 2010

Boots Advert


I recently saw on TV the new Boots advert for the Tony Ferguson weight loss plan designed by ad company Mother. This advert inspired my ad campaign for the final project of my degree. I wanted to expose what the media was really saying by removing the sugar coating and revealing to women what they are actually being made to believe.

The advert shows a group of women (and guy) gossiping in an office environment about their colleagues recent weight loss and the differences in her life due to this. The women’s discussion escalates from how ‘Joan’ now looks ‘happy’ and ‘amazing’, to her just returning from a holiday in Paris with a new man, a pilot with a yacht no less, who proposed, and ending with her getting married in a mansion. The women in the office seem to get wrapped up in this fantasy lifestyle that their friend is now living, ooohing and ahhhing with jealousy, wishing it was them.

I feel that this advert is reinforcing a bad message, that if you lose weight you will be happier, you will marry a rich, handsome man who will sweep you off your feet and you will live happily ever after. Unfortunately this is almost always not the case and I think it is cruel and unfair to put these types of unrealistic expectations onto women and for them to think they can only achieve this dream by losing weight.

For me Boots comes across as a well respected, family company, so I was surprised that they would openly portray this type of message.

I can honestly say I was really shocked when I saw this advert and found myself wondering if anyone else picked up on the same things I did or is this type of advertising acceptable nowadays?

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