Well, Something Is Ugly About These Ads
BFD reader Kellie alerted us to a series of ads from Bacardi, which suggests that the perfect accessory for summer is an “ugly girlfriend.” As Kellie pointed out, “ugly” seems to be synonymous with plus-sized; of five girls pictured, three are plus-sized. AgencySpy talked about the text of the ads:
The descriptions of each girlfriend can be pretty harsh, perhaps the handiwork of a somewhat sadistic copywriter. A beach stroll with “Sally” for example, reads: “Upgrade your trips to the beach with Sally-97 kilograms of femininity, strength and double chins. No tires can disguise the lumpy rolls decorating that body.”
And the ads also feature “Lucy,” described as “a freckled pile of cellulite” whose “rubbing thighs…and drooping breasts will turn any trip to the mall into an unforgettable experience.” Yep, that certainly is ugly, alright.
(The ads have since been removed. Too late, Bacardi! From now on, I am making my mojitos with… pretty much anything else.)
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advertising, Fatism, Feminism, International, Magazines, Media, Sex & Romance
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While not an overly sensitive guy, stuff like this is amazing. I would love to know more about the person who signed off on these ads.
cheers
Bacardi sent me a note saying that they did not approve of these ads and that the company acted, in essence, without its permission. However someone claiming to be from that company posted a note on my blog today claiming that Bacardi knew full well about the campaign, that it specifically requested it and that McCann Digital tried to talk them out of it. This person said that evidence by way of emails and correspondences exists. So, who knows… all I know is that it has been removed.
Oh, did you post about it? Post the link! (I have been out of town, yet again, as you probably noticed on Twitter.)
Wow. Shame on them for approving something so utterly hateful toward all women, not just plus-sized women.
Here’s a link to a Google cached version of the site: http://tr.im/pwus
There was a comment submitted on this blog:
http://www.michelle.koenig-schwartz.com/chronicles/2009/06/20/take-a-beach-stroll-with-sally/
But it doesn’t do much to confirm/deny whether Bacardi originally developed the campain, and now are denying it for good PR purposes.
Did you catch the publicist tweeting on twitter about the incident?
http://www.mamavision.com/mamavision/2009/06/bacardi-responds-to-get-an-ugly-girlfriend-lame-ass-campaign.html You can catch it there. BRILLIANT.
Thanks for posting about this! I’ve been thinking about the plus-sized girls that were hired for this shoot. Did they know what they were getting into? Did they know what the campaign was for? How did they feel about that? I can’t imagine “you’re the face of Lucy, the freckled pile of cellulite” is a selling point for someone. Maybe they just used stock photos.
Sadly, I’m guessing the women knew what they were getting in to, but took the job because it’s very good money and their agents would have been pi**ed if they’d NOT taken it. And maybe even let go from the agency. Just as little people know that they will be stuck playing elves at some point in their career, plus-sized actresses know that they will be the brunt of many cruel jokes on camera, stage and screen. And it sucks.
But these ads are just BEYOND horrific.
Actually these were probably stock photos purchased from a stock photo site as there is some bad photoshopping on those pics lol. I really hope that is the case and that people didn’t actually volunteer for this, cause man would that be a sad feeling.
You can read Bacardi’s responses here. I emailed the publicist back and asked if they would be pursuing legal action since they say the company acted without their permission and have yet to receive a response.
I won’t be drinking Bacardi any time soon, either.
I wonder what would happen if Smirnoff responded with role-reversed ads featuring a “loser boyfriend” series. The perfect summer accessory for girls – the fat, unemployed, pimply, whiny, broke young man. Would there be any outcry?
Girl on the front of the booklet is HOT! I’m just saying…
OK, so maybe I’m really dense, but I’m not even sure what the point of these ads are. Who are they marketing to anyway? I don’t see how this campaign would appeal to men at all, and as for appealing to women the only angle I can see is that horrible “take a less attractive friend to the party so you look that much better” concept. Even with that idea, though, this is just dumb, it doesn’t work.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s offensive as hell for all the reasons you guys mentioned, but it’s offensive just on the level of being horrible, lame advertising too.
Wow, that is just outrageously horrible and cruel.
@Bethany I thought the same thing! She is really cute and I love her outfit and haircut. I would totally flirt with her at a summer party.
Wow, this goes way past insulting. Sally actually looks cute though, I really liked her photo.
And as for the Lucy ad, nothing says ‘classy’ or ‘hot’ like getting shitfaced in a mall. Way to go Bacardi!
Mo, completely giving this article a shout out on my blog….when I get around to it…most likely tomorrow I’m being lazy.
Bacardi has Epic Fail’d on a massive scale. How was this *ever* a good idea?
This is totally unrelated to this post. Well my second point is anyways. First…I love how writing letters and emails actually has proven effective (see my blog for my hate mail to target). Second…I was reading the Ann Taylor thing and i just dont understand why stores try to act like they dont sell any size 12-16. Im a 20 now but when I was 12-16 those sizes were always gone…left were the 0-2-4’s. They just dont want to sell the sizes when in fact they should be developing plus sized lines. If we didnt shop why is Lane Bryant still open and going strong!?!?! What plus sized clothing store has ever gone out of business. Exactly.
Ha ha Bacardi, I’m all done with you. I am a consumer of chick-drinks like the Bacardi Breezer, but it’s gonna be Smirnov Ice or Mike’s Hard Lemonade for me!
There was unmistakable fat-hate in those ads, but it was in larger context of woman-hate. All of the women pictured were perfectly nice-looking, some stylish, some flirty, all seemed to be enjoying themselves. (That was part of the “joke” I guess — they DON”T EVEN KNOW THEY ARE REPULSIVE.) Since they are all fine, no better or worse looking than most people, the message is: “ladies, you’d better be PERFECT according to our standards, because anything less than PERFECT is ugly and worthy of ridicule.”
Stupid asshats. Why don’t you try to sell to women by viciously insulting them? That’ll work, for sure.
With how fast obesity is infecting our population, 3/5 girls being fat doesn’t sound like “fat hate” as much as “proper math proportions of society.”
People need to stop being so sensitive. I’m not embarrassed when people make ginger jokes because I’m not self conscious about my red hair. Similarly, only self conscious overweight people will take real offense to these ads… and if they don’t accept their own bodies, why should anyone else?
Oops – didn’t realize I was posting on a blog with a subtitle “we’re here, we’re sphere, get used to it” … I’ll take my fatty criticism elsewhere… falling on deaf ears here.
@ Nathan: I’m a proud Fat Acceptance advocate, and I’m fine with the occasional fat joke, so long as it’s genuinely funny, and not mean-spirited. I’m not above laughing at myself–or just about anything else.
These ads, however, are fat-hate, pure and simple. They are not witty, or clever, or original, in any way. They’re just mean.
Imagine if you heard dozens of “ginger” jokes, every single day. And if most of those “jokes” were simply people re-hashing the same tired old lies: that redheads are lazy, stupid, greedy, disgusting, and unworthy of love.
You’d be a little pissed off, am I right?