Classy, Proactiv. Super classy.

[firecat88]

So I was just browsing around on Tumblr just now and happened upon a picture that showed an advertisement for Proactiv. And now I'm really glad that I no longer use the stuff (It stopped working for me like a month after I started using it).

The ad: http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3...6t6wo1_500.jpg

was my initial reactions upon seeing that. Well, that and '...really? That's what they're going with?' I mean, what the hell? Who *says* that to the people they're trying to sell their product to?

[BlaqueKatt]

Who *says* that to the people they're trying to sell their product to?

a company preying on the insecurities of young females....

[Greenday]

a company preying on the insecurities of young females....

It's sad that it might work on some people too.

[the_std]

I don't know how much I trust that ad... In my googling, I can't find a trusted source that this is a real Proactiv ad. If someone can find one, I'd be willing to revise my theory.

[AdminAssistant]

This one really pissed me off.

Nice one, Slim-Fast. "Drink and eat our nasty and overpriced products for months so that you can look PERFECT on your SPECIAL DAYYYYYYY."

[Andara Bledin]

Apparently, the Proactiv ad from the OP is from an early campaign.

Here's a blog entry from a couple years back about the stuff.

The Slim Fast ads are just awful, too.

If you need to make someone feel inadequate to sell your product, then your product sucks.

At least Weight Watchers doesn't feel the need to insult their target demographic.

^-.-^

[firecat88]

Apparently, the Proactiv ad from the OP is from an early campaign.

Here's a blog entry from a couple years back about the stuff.

Oh jeez. The fact that it's real makes it even worse. XD Honestly, I was kinda hoping it was fake.

[Andara Bledin]

There's big money to be made from making people feel inadequate or ugly, and then selling the snake oil to cure what ails them.

^-.-^

[BlaqueKatt]

At least Weight Watchers doesn't feel the need to insult their target demographic.

They did at one time, they had an ad that stated "as soon as you stop breastfeeding you can shed all that baby fat with weightwatchers", there was an uproar, and they added "nursing points" to their program(nursing does use more calories, and a breastfeeding woman on a diet is likely to be malnourished, as the body will leech from the mother's stores of calcium and other stored nutrients to ensure the baby gets the needed nutrients)

[HYHYBT]

I'm perhaps a bit dense today; how is that insulting?

[Andara Bledin]

I, too, am failing to find the insult in there. Based on the addition of "nursing points," it sounds like that at the time of the ad, people who got pregnant went off of WW entirely.

^-.-^

[BlaqueKatt]

I'm perhaps a bit dense today; how is that insulting?

I, too, am failing to find the insult in there. Based on the addition of "nursing points," it sounds like that at the time of the ad, people who got pregnant went off of WW entirely.

you were being told you had to stay fat until you quit breastfeeding, and for many women who wanted to continue breastfeeding, had to choose between "being fat" or switching to a bottle, thus adding extra expense. The uproar was from the medical community, that felt it was pushing women to abandon breastfeeding(the US has the worst breastfeeding rates of any developed country as it is) if they wanted to get back to a lower weight, which the "baby weight" most women put on during pregnancy is to assist the body to produce milk, and a lot will come off with breastfeeding(so stopping will ensure you need WW).

[Andara Bledin]

you were being told you had to stay fat until you quit breastfeeding

Only if you were searching for a reason to be upset, and only if you really worked at it.

I know about the importance of breastfeeding and the US' position in the world as regards it, but vanity is not the culprit. The US' pathetic (and dead last in industrialized nations, 4th from last when including developing nations) support for new mothers is what should be addressed, not some calorie-control regimen.

^-.-^

[Silverharp]

When it comes to rage inducing ads, I know one slogan that will turn most women into an instant berserker fury of DOOM.

"Have a happy period"

[blas87]

That had to have been said by a man.

Cuz if men had periods, whatever it was that caused them, would be covered by insurance to fix.