If it happens to remind women that Special K exists just in time for New Year’s resolution season, well, then, everybody’s happy, right?
The centerpiece of this campaign is an ad filmed in a fake clothing boutique created by Special K. The cereal-mongers filled it with signs covered in fat talk. All the clothes had tags with lines like “I have a muffin talk” and “#cow.”
First the shoppers are outraged, then the awareness dawns: “This is just like looking inside of my head.” “It kind of makes me feel nauseous.” “I feel sad.” “I didn’t realize how bad it was.” “It was definitely eye-opening.” BOOM: You just got your consciousness raised. Please address all thank-you notes to the Kellogg Company.
Yes, fat talk is terrible for your emotional well-being. It would be a kindness to yourself and your friends to ban it from your vocabulary.
But how many new years in a row have we been bombarded with ads encouraging us to “take the Special K challenge”? You could get whiplash from the mixed messages in the press release announcing the campaign: “Fat Talk is contagious – and it’s weighing women down. Whether sparked by an unflattering photo or shopping for jeans, these negative comments women make about their own bodies and others are a destructive and significant barrier to weight-management success.”
Special K is in fact presenting fat talk not as corrosive to mental health, but rather as a barrier to weight loss. This asinine ad campaign would have you continue to feel bad about your body. Just feel bad about your body in the way that Special K wants you to. Feel bad in a way that compels you to buy flavorless cereal.
Here’s a novel idea, Special K: Try making a food that doesn’t taste like dietary sackcloth and ashes. Then maybe you won’t need a weight-loss challenge or a lecture about body image to sell your product.
(h/t Business Insider)