But these brands bravely stood their ground because it was the Right Thing to Do. (Yes, in case you were wondering, it is actually 2016 and some people do think that showing a mixed-race couple doing crazy things like eating breakfast or wearing T-shirts is “anti-white propaganda”.)Īdidas prompted similar backlash when it showed a same-sex couple in a Valentine’s Day Instagram post. Earlier this year Old Navy caused controversy for putting a mixed-race family in one of its ads – three years after Cheerios caused major backlash for doing the same. That default woman is straight, thin and white, and has the right amount of hair in the right places.Īdidas is so amazing for this /VO4x4CHYRC- FREDDY February 15, 2016Īdvertising isn’t just updating its views on women.

Ironically, though, it’s powerful only because both fashion and advertising have spent so long reinforcing the idea that femininity looks a certain way in the first place. A multinational brand putting major marketing money into celebrating the sort of women that you don’t often see celebrated onscreen is incredibly powerful. Feel empowered to celebrate your individuality in identical H&M clothes!Ĭynicism aside, this ad is brilliant. There are so many unique ways to be a lady today, the ad is saying, and they’re all amazing. The campaign, which is set to an updated version of Tom Jones’s She’s a Lady, aims to modernise notions of “ladylike” behaviour. You may even see someone on screen that you, a modern woman in a multicultural world, can identify with! Which, of course, is the point. In short, the ad features Normal Women™ doing Normal Things™: the sort of people you see on the train on your way to work, the sort of people you are friends with– and the sort of people who shop at H&M. Action shots of women’s wobbly bits wobblingĪ thin woman eating french fries without a side of guiltĪn ethnically ambiguous high-powered female business executive

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