You know them. Dancing around while eating yogurt. Wearily trying to avoid dessert. Conducting board meetings in their bikinis.
Okay, maybe not the last one so much, but still. A new ad for Irish-brand LowLow Cheese tackles these common clichés of diet-food ads, which, unshockingly, all happen to be women. (Serious food for thought: how often do we see diet food marketed towards men?) And while I wish that this wasn’t being presented to us by an ad itself (it kind of feels like the “special snowflake” of ads) it does make a good statement. Let’s get better acquainted with the gals of adland, shall we?
Smug Gal seems to have impeccable restraint in maintaining a size 2 body. She’s living off her diet drink and wheat thins, and as a result lives with the poise and confidence that allows her to wear her bathing suit to the boardroom. Usually I tend to see a lot of temper tantrums when my friends try to stick to such disappointing non-meals; I guess some women are just better.
Ditzy Gal I see pretty much everywhere in Adland. This one has such an extraordinary abundance of energy, like eating some low-fat yogurt diet smoothie is the most rewarding thing in the world. Literally she’s breaking out into the Snoopy dance at work she’s so happy. Sometimes you also see her in a white dress, spinning around on a beach for tampon commercials. All I feel like doing when I’m on my period is cry and watch Gossip Girl, but you know…I’m sure adland knows what’s best.
And Muffin Gal, I have the biggest problem with. First of all, that’s clearly a cupcake in the video. (I can only assume it’s being called otherwise because of some Irish linguistic differences.) Second of all, by the time the cupcake grew legs and started walking towards Muffin Gal, I just wanted them to start making out. Muffin Gal and Cupcake: I ship it.
The point of all this? That we shouldn’t kowtow to ridiculous and unrealistic clichés that are urging us to lose weight. Whether you choose to diet or not is your own personal decision. I’m not qualified to tell anyone to do with with their eating habits, because I had four brownies for breakfast yesterday. I’ll be lucky if I don’t get diabetes before I turn 25.
However, if you choose to diet, don’t do it because of the girl who’s joyfully eating crackers on TV. Do it for yourself. And on the flip side, if you want that muffin/cupcake, go for it. This isn’t Adland.
You can see the full video below!
Original Article via adweek.com