I just saw this ad on the Huffington Post: (Yes, I was reading the article about the cancellation of “My Own Worst Enemy” a.k.a. “The show that makes me want to turn off the TV the second “Heroes” is over”)
But what I want to talk about is what the hell is going on with this ad? First, both those pictures look like the ones local news stations surreptitiously take of bodies without heads whenever they do news stories about Obesity In America.
Second, who is going to look at that “After” picture and go, “oh yes, that is the body I want, I’m sure it looks much more fab without the horizontal stripes.”
And third, and THIRD, she started out as a BLACK WOMAN and ended up as a WHITE WOMAN!!! What kind of crazy Michael Jackson dieting program is this?
Little Fish said,
November 13, 2008 at 10:46 am
That is the funniest thing I have seen all week. Thank you!
Dutchess of Kickball said,
November 13, 2008 at 10:48 am
LOL I saw one the other day like this where the before picture is clearly PREGNANT!! I forget where I saw it now, but someone not at all qualified was apparently hired to do advertising.
alexa said,
November 13, 2008 at 10:49 am
hahahahaha. this is perfect. that lady is so not FAB.
i guess this miracle cure will wipe the black right off of you. i wonder if it has opposite effects as well?
Jennifer M. said,
November 13, 2008 at 11:05 am
As a white girl, I guess you were unaware that the high concentrations of melanin that result in darker skin tone are actually quite weighty. By removing the melanin, the lbs come right off :0)
3carnations said,
November 13, 2008 at 11:25 am
I didn’t notice the change in skin color. Whoops.
Other than that, 12 pounds IS 12 pounds, and even if I didn’t look “fab” afterwards, I suppose I’d still be glad to have shed the 12 pounds…
mickey said,
November 13, 2008 at 11:54 am
Good catch. That IS f’ed up.
Also, I’ve started turning off the TV before Heroes comes on.
Knot said,
November 13, 2008 at 12:03 pm
“I was born a small black child …” best first line of a movie ever.
Knot
courtney said,
November 13, 2008 at 12:05 pm
The hell?
I guess all those commercials for MOWE they aired during the Olympics were all for naught. Sorry, Christian Slater.
nancypearlwannabe said,
November 13, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Really, that’s the best picture they could come up with for “Fab”? That definitely says something about our society.
lizgwiz said,
November 13, 2008 at 12:36 pm
That is hilarious.
Ann said,
November 13, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t notice the colour either until you pointed it out. And part of my job is editing – you know, paying attention to little details.
Aine Caitriona said,
November 13, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Wait, you mean that skin-bleaching and unfortunate fashion choices aren’t a common side effect? Damn. I’d better lay off the ephedra.
Abby said,
November 13, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I’m the one who thought Condi Rice was Hispanic and even *I* noticed the change in skin color.
abbersnail said,
November 13, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I saw that ad on another site yesterday and had the same ‘WTF’ moment. It kind of pisses me off, because I feel like the advertisers think we are morons.
Ashley said,
November 13, 2008 at 2:53 pm
That’s hysterical. I really want to know who the person was who came up with that ad and then the person who okayed it. I want to shake their hand for being a complete idiot.
jennifer said,
November 13, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I saw this the other day and laughed too. OK, so I would rather look like the after because she is smaller. Unfortunately I DO look a lot like that second one and I am (sort of) working on that.
It’s like they KNOW the truly grey matter challenged (did I spell grey right?) will answer these adds, so why try too hard?
Z said,
November 13, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Um… Yeah. WTF indeed
Maxie said,
November 13, 2008 at 4:55 pm
hahaha RANDOM! The ad people need to pay attention to maybe… skin color?
sadieandleo said,
November 13, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Hahahaha… wait she is white now. Whoa.
Kristabella said,
November 13, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I love that the second photo is deemed “FAB.” By whom, I’m wondering?
Stefanie said,
November 13, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Ha! I did wonder about the skin color change, so I’m glad you mentioned it.
To the Dutchess… well, giving birth IS an excellent way to lose a bunch of weight quickly, right?
And to Abbersnail, sadly, I think a lot of the people the advertisers are targeting to on the web ARE morons. (I don’t think they’d be reading the Huffington Post, though.)
velocibadgergirl said,
November 14, 2008 at 10:01 am
ROFL! I almost blogged about this same ad the other day. Who sat in the ad agency and said, “Yeah, they totally won’t notice!”?
Deb said,
November 14, 2008 at 12:09 pm
CLASSIC! I never would have noticed because my mind has constructed some clever kinds of walls that don’t let me see diet ads, scales, and sometimes mirrors.
The good thing is that the list of people who clicked on the ad is a GOLDMINE of idiots to market to. I want that list!
Aaron said,
November 14, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I saw an ad for that Christian Slater show a few months back and declared it a cancellation waiting to happen. Poor guy. I bet he’s still waiting for that Heathers sequel.
teahouseblossom said,
November 15, 2008 at 1:22 am
LMAO!!! Not to mention the weirdly different angles in the two photos.
Actually, I see a beach background. Maybe it’s a before and after photo about coastal erosion?
Mermu said,
November 15, 2008 at 11:45 am
And fourth, what the hell is this S&*t doing on Ariana Huffington!!! We hardly knew ye, Arianna. We hardly knew ye…….
Vanessa said,
November 16, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Yes, who declares that second picture as fab? They are wrong!