Real women – believe it or not

Am I being cynical?? Am I being naïve?? Who knows, but the marketing news I receive regularly (and share on News Bytes) is hinting at a coming trend to use normal female body shapes in marketing. First there was this article from the New York Times

For Everyday Products, Ads Using the Everyday Woman
Madison Avenue is increasingly interested in using everyday women in advertising instead of just waifish supermodels. The change comes after the Dove line of personal-care products sold by Unilever introduced what it called a “campaign for real beauty,” which presents women in advertisements as they are rather than as some believe they ought to be. If the fad becomes a trend and shows legs, so to speak, it has the potential to fundamentally change decades of image-making on Madison Avenue. – article continues

And then, apparently Nike jumped on the bandwagon. Here was the article where Mediapost announced that one.

Nike Steers Advertising Toward Reality Anatomy

In the latest nod to “real” women — and the latest blow to the wafer-thin body image — Nike has introduced a campaign that celebrates women’s “big butts, thunder thighs and tomboy knees.” It comes on the heels of a Dove campaign that touched a cultural hot-button and set off a flood of media coverage culminating with models from the ads appearing on the cover of People magazine. – article continues

After decades of being blitzed with advertising that featured unattainable dreams, of living in the duality of being seduced by it and resenting its techniques, I have to believe it’s going to change ….. Believe the unbelievable ….?. Where is the “Coping with change” manual. Bring it on!!