Friday, June 17, 2011

"Does this ad make me look fat?"

So you know that Yoplait yogurt commercial that shows the lady at the office agonizing over whether she should enjoy a piece of raspberry cheesecake or not, by justifying what she'll do to compensate for the extra calories? It's a funny and effective piece of advertising, right?
Well evidently some overly sensitive wackadoos concerned people over at the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) think that the ad sends a very dangerous message so they've demanded that the ad be pulled off the air, and Yoplait agreed. Sigh...really?
NEDA (which is of course based out of Seattle, #1 city for passive-aggression) has said "a commercial showing a thin person anxiously doing mental gymnastics in order to justify eating dessert—and then denying herself the treat because she wants to be even thinner—could reinforce the idea that such deliberations are healthy and normal".
But...but I think that is normal. Look, this country has a shit-ton of people who are obese and just as many more who are dieting or have lost weight but still find it a daily struggle to maintain their efforts. People have arguments and conversations with themselves all the time regarding whether or not to eat that chocolate chip cookie or have that second helping of lasagne. That's why the ad works! I don't understand NEDA's position on this at all. If we have to calibrate all food advertising to cater to the emotional stability of people with eating disorders, then should we even had any ads at all for food?

Am I being insensitive? Whatever. None of this controversy even addressed my problem with the Yoplait ad. What kind of office do these people work in where they have co-workers bringing in gourmet, fancy, delicious looking raspberry cheesecake for everyone to enjoy? I want to work there!

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