Giant Helium Balloon

Summary: As the Season 5 premier for Mad Men creeps closer, articles about experiences in AdLand become abundant. From young and old, bright-eyed to disillusioned, people are telling their tales about the days they filled the halls of an ad agency. Mad Men paints a picture of advertising that few people are able to fully wrap their heads around. Do Ad folks really drink all the time? Is it really a boys’ club?

Summary: Recently came across this series of vintage ads aimed at striking fear in the hearts of young women everywhere. The ads threaten that you will wind up unpopular, undesirable, and unloved if you let yourself get too…wait for it…SKINNY. As someone who grew up in a culture that has always lionized female thinness, these ads were a welcome change of pace — at first. “Finally!” I thought to myself. Proof that our image-obsessed culture once celebrated normal, realistic standards of beauty for women. But upon closer inspection, I realized that this ad was just the flip side of the same coin.
The ideals of beauty may have changed, but the approach feels quite familiar.

Summary: In a world where consumers claim that they know more than advertisers think, and where people want less government in their lives, there seems to be plenty of evidence that points to the contrary. The most recent example is a Huffington Post article that takes up an issue happening in the UK: women’s advocacy groups and some plastic surgeons are demanding for the government to make plastic surgery advertising to the masses illegal. Let’s look at the facts. Over the past year, there have been several claims brought up against women’s magazines for false advertising, especially in the UK. The L’Oreal ad featuring Julia Roberts that was challenged for airbrushing comes to mind.