There is a new campaign that has just launched for Sketchers, and it is featuring some of their most famous creations, Shape Ups. These shoes are supposed to tone your legs and butt while you go through your normal daily routine. All of this sounds fine now, right? Well, this new campaign is not featuring the Armenian bombshell Kim Kardashian or any other celebrity, as a matter of fact the commercial launched for the shoes is all animated! The new commercial is targeting children, girls as young as eight. Some of the phrases used in the commercial are “everything a girl could want, looking good, having fun”. As one can imagine, this has become a major problem and parents are doing all they can to boycott these ads from being shown to their daughters. It is as if corrupting all of the teenagers and young adults is not enough, now the media wants children to be self-conscious about their bodies too. This is unacceptable and little girls should not have to worry about looking good or being tall and skinny, they should be able to grow just like the other generations did, as kids. This is not only putting young girls are an elevated risk of eating disorders, but it is also encouraging girls to show off their bodies. In the commercial, the cartoon girls are performing in tiny skirts and are being chased after by boys dressed up as fast food characters. It is a shame that shoe companies such as Sketchers feel that they have to go to these extremes to be successful and I highly recommend them to change their marketing strategies since the young eight year old's are not going to be the ones purchasing the shoes!
Karla Veliz
1 comment:
I agree with your post, it is ridiculous to be influencing such young children about what their bodies “should” look like. Kids today already grow up so fast and with technology and the media, it is already challenging to keep them innocent for very long. Sketchers should be ashamed to be targeting such a young market, especially when this is an age where we should be teaching our children about inner beauty and how to be happy with your self. There is a phrase in the ad about “everything a girl could want”, these are just young girls, they are to you young to know what they want and they should have the time to be silly and girly before they have to grow up. The pressure to be thin and “perfect” leads to low self-esteem, body issues and eating disorders. There should be more campaigns that encourage, self-worth, empowerment and loving ones self.
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