Moms outraged by Bugaboo ad featuring bikini-clad model

Iymnok

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 11:39 am

Who are they trying to sell the strollers to?
I would've thought to stylish mothers with babies in outfits that match the stroller fabric they chose for today. And a matching handbag. All top name brands.
It would make more sense, I just don't put babies and super models in bikinis together anywhere except the beach.
If she was in a revealing dress or exercise wear, it would make sense. I believe people are bothered since something is out of place.

Amarante

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 12:07 pm

Iymnok wrote:

These are jogging strollers which are being marketed to extremely affluent women.

For the most part, extremely affluent women would find this to be aspirational - and has been lengthily discussed, the purpose of advertising is to capture the imagination and stand out in the sea of data that most people see every day.

This ad succeeded in creating buzz - becoming viral in a manner in which a woman pushing a buggy in street clothes or normal workout gear wouldn't.

And I really see no downside to the ad since I can't imagine that any significant number of people are going to NOT buy the stroller based on the ad.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 12:23 pm

Ads are designed to target markets. It's likely I never would have known about this ad if it wasn't for Ima. I'm not a part of their target market, nor do I follow Fox news.

I've long ago decided that there is little I can do about the sexualization of all and sundry products via advertising. I do live a under a rock, I don't have cable TV and watch TV on the internet, ergo if I see ads, they are targeted to my personal demographic. I don't subscribe to any magazines that would advertise this product so I wouldn't get exposure on that level.

All in all this ad has generated HUGE exposure for the company and the majority of it was free. They got more than they paid for.

marina

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 12:48 pm

hotmom wrote:

In reality I'm not shocked at this choice of ad. Like a previous poster wrote "feeling resentful toward the s-xualization of EVERYTHING". The world has become a very immoral place to live in. Everything is about Sekz and nakedness out in the public. It's a sick world out there. Nothing is private...not even the food we make.. so even if this ad is morally of low and poor taste. To the outside world it may be OK.

Did you conclude that the outside world considers this ok by reading the referenced article, about the outraged moms?

Amarante

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 1:11 pm

marina wrote:

Also, I think the model is out of place. You wear a bikini to a beach, not while jogging. What is that about? Would you wear pajamas to work? Workout clothes to a conference?

Of course it's out of place. That's the point. To make a statement and create viral buzz which it did.

ETA. And not that I am suggesting it but if you go tomVenice Beach boardwalk, woman are jogging, skating and biking in bikinis

MagentaYenta

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 1:20 pm

Amarante wrote:

Not just Venice, I would suggest along any beach in CA. Even here in the PNW there are some scantily clad joggers pushing baby carriers. OTH there are also women wearing hijab or salwar kameez as well.

einstern

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 1:46 pm

So I guess I will add my two cents here as well.
First of all, I agree that today EVERYTHING has to be s-+ualized, from clothing to food to perfume to whatever. I am so over fed with looking at naked bodies everywhere I go, whether it be the newspaper isle of a store, the bus stop or even the women on the street. Here in Europe it seems to be the latest thing to wear shorts that pass as underwear in this house.
That being said, I was kinda glad that at least the whole segment of baby related things was free of nakedness, excluding baby tushies of course.

I do not hate on thin women, but the very real pressure of being thin installed that thought of having to be 110 lbs with my height of 5ft 8in. But then came pregnancy and reality hit me. You cannot be carrying a child and eat barely enough to not be sick. Also, Torah teaches that the REAL beauty emanates from the inside and consist of torah, kindness, being humble and so forth. So I am glad I am OVER this whole pressure thing and focus on the beauty from the inside more than on the short lived looks of my "kelipa".

So it really bothers me to be confronted with something that is a.) a very unrealistic and unhealthy(!) weight goal for most and b.) probably anyway so very much photoshopped into something even the model isn't in real life.

How can we teach our daughters about what is important and right in life, when the whole world tells us that all you have to be as a woman is fit and thin and beautiful on the outside?

IMHO we should boycott this superficiality wherever we can. I don't mean throwing stones at billboards or spitting at girls who wear shorter skirts than we do, but in exactly this storm of outrage that is happening right now.

We need to show the people who are responsible for advertisement: "Enough already! stop this ridiculous nonsense! Make ads that make sense!"

Sorry that my two cents turned out to be more like two dollars in length...