I came across this advertisement on the news pretty recently. This new Thai beauty ad has unleashed extreme criticism worldwide, and it is not hard to imagine why. The advertisement bolsters damaging, racist ideas, that lighter skin is crucial to success. "Just being white, you will win." This is the controversial message the Thai ad puts across to its audience. Without the advertised pill, "the whiteness I have invested in, will just vanish," the actress warns. The actress then becomes depressed as her skin becomes black, and promises the product, called Snowz, will help your skin remain light.
I thought that this commercial was extremely repulsive, and I was absolutely shocked that it was aired in Thailand. But as I looked further into it, I discovered that Thai companies in particular have been criticized in the past for ridiculing women who have dark skin. In Thai culture, dark skin is associated with a lower-class group of people, i.e., farmers, or people who have been darkened by the sun. Whiter skin symbolizes a higher status and beauty standard. This trend, where a pale complexion is considered the standard of beauty in the media in Thailand as well as many other Asian countries, has caused women to resort to whitening creams and pills that promise a brighter tone but damage their skin. This ad represents a larger issue in today's society, our narrow conceptions of beauty. We are constantly striving to fit society's description of beauty, largely thanks to our culture being crammed with degrading messages spread by mass media. The message that advertisements are sending out is that people are equivalent to the products they purchase. This turns a person's identity into a product, and consequently strips them of their humanity. Unfortunately, as long as women's bodies continue to be neglected rather than celebrated by the media, these negative affects will persist.
No comments:
Post a Comment