Buy Walking VideosLooking at Thin Models: Good or Bad?
I just read about an advertising study that noticed that seeing thin women modeling a product makes you more likely to rate that product highly. Of course, you end up feeling insecure about yourself, but the marketing for the product is positive.
More importantly, seeing thin models also affects eating behavior:
Advertisers like to mess with your head and so do researchers, so here come the free cookies. The researchers tried to gauge the short-term link between seeing thin models and eating behaviour, and used the ploy of offering free Oreos as a thank-you to their study participants. Those who had just seen the thin models were almost four times as likely to refuse the cookies.
So, if you look through the latest issue of Elle magazine, is that good for you or bad for you? Your self-esteem might suffer, but your eating behaviors might improve.
Maybe these words from Jay Leno actually help in this case:
Jay Leno (1950 – ), O Magazine, February 2003
Honestly, I think the whole self-esteem issue is moot. It doesn’t matter how you feel about yourself as long as you do what you need to do to be successful. Photos of thin models or not, the most important thing to keep you healthy is DOING what needs to be done to be healthy.
Via: Diet Blog: Women Prefer Products Pitched by Thin Models
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October 10th, 2008 at 8:56 am
My god, that woman is scary looking. SCARY SCARY.
October 12th, 2008 at 6:02 am
I know that there is a lot of pressure on girls to look like the girl in the picture above. It is truly scary that we think that that is healthy and how we/she should look. At any age, if she was not a model, she would be seeing a shrink and probably checked into some hospital specializing in eating disorders. Most girls will never be satisfied with how they look. The outsides of that pictured girl are condemning the insides of my daughter. As Lynn said, “My god, that woman is scary looking. SCARY SCARY.”
I think it is also interesting that google ads picked up on the topic and is displaying ads about anorexia and help. In the Extreme Exercise post ads are about getting in shape, loosing weight… Clearly, a lot of people think it is bad to be that thin and the very people that use this kind of advertising are using it to advertise help for this problem. What a cyclical evolution they have created. Look at her. She is what we all should desire to have or become, but if we do become we must be sick and therefore need the help for our anorexia… Bryan
October 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am
There’s one thing to see a thin model…then there is SICKLY. This woman looks SICKLY and for me is a distraction for anything she would be trying to sell.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Great Leno quote – however it’s very difficult to control your levels of esteem – too low, and you stop caring and you find yourself in a negative cycle.