Friday, April 18, 2014

“Truth in Advertising Act” bill

Many modern advertisements dehumanize women and photoshop them to look an 
unachievable level of skinny and flawless. As we watched in "Miss Representation", this is leaving many young girls with serious self-image issues. However, a bill called the "Truth in Advertising Act" bill is finally being proposed, that "would mandate the Federal Trade Commission to report on any 'materially change [in] the physical characteristics of the faces and bodies of the individuals depicted,' and would also require the regulatory body to work with health and business experts to establish a set of standardized, safe practices when it comes to altering images" (Gonzalez). It is time that a stand be taken against photoshopping models so drastically to create an ideal that is unattainable even by the models themselves, let alone the everyday Jane woman. Advertisements pull people into a "desirable image", however these images distort womens' views of what a person should in fact look like, and therefore need desperately to be changed, to allow young women growing up in our society to be proud of themselves and love themselves and realize the reality of what a human being looks like. 
http://elitedaily.com/women/new-bill-looks-to-drastically-reduce-how-much-fashion-ads-are-photoshopped/

1 comment:

  1. Action needs to be taken in the advertising and marketing industry. I know many females that are suffering from body image issues due to what the media has put in its magazines, websites, and commercials. It is sad and terrifying to me, as a male, to witness females constantly compare themselves to unattainable body images. In "Miss Representation" the statistics on eating disorders were startling. For me, I want change and I know that starts with not holding females to the unattainable and unhealthy standards that the advertising world portrays females to be. However, I know their is hope and progress being made. I see a lot of videos going viral showing the real transformation that women go through before being slapped on the cover of a prestigious magazine. It is reassuring to see the female community taking note into the "business" of the advertising agencies. Being a business marketing major we have discussed these issues. Whether it is moral/ethical to use such marketing strategies to sell or promote a product. In the business world money is "king" and whatever advertising strategy works, will be the strategy that is used or implemented. However, their are many more creative ways to capture the attention and desire of your target market. It is just unfortunate that the biggest selling point in America today is sex and sex appeal. Resulting into making and editing female body's into unattainable body features. I would love to see change in the advertising industry because it is definitely causing a tremendous amount of harm to our youth. The "Truth in Advertising Act" is a step in the right direction, but a lot more needs to be implemented.

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