Pepsi: The Next Generation … of Cultural Appropriators
Brands have a long tradition of exploiting social-justice movements to hock their products—but do their campaigns undermine activists' power?
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Must-Read Links: #BaltimoreUprising, Bud Light’s Blunder, + More
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In Defense of Dove’s “Female-Empowerment” Marketing
The company’s latest #SpeakBeautiful campaign has the haters out in full force. But could their seemingly insincere tactics have a genuine effect?
Are the Virtues of Higher Education a Lesson in False Advertising?
After years of adjunct teaching gigs, the novelist left academe for copywriting—much to her colleagues' chagrin. Her reasons will challenge everything you think you know about “selling out.”
Advertisers Just Discovered That Dads Can Do Housework
The Super Bowl is kicking off a slew of commercials featuring fathers doing domestic duties. And we're supposed to think they're special?
Is Hawking Brilliance Better Than Selling Beauty?
Aging icons Joni Mitchell and Joan Didion may seem more real than models. But using them in fashion campaigns may be less of a feminist statement than you think.
I Don’t Work Here, Ma’am. I’m a Shopper, Too
A Black woman's pursuit of retail therapy is enough to send anyone to the therapist's couch.
Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Not Beautiful
Working in an industry that makes women feel insecure about their looks, the writer, a former celeb makeup artist, reflects on her role on our collective self-esteem, and her own self-scrutiny.
Would You Apply for the World’s Toughest Job?
24 people did and the result is an ad that might make you reach for the Kleenex.
Dove’s New Ad Takes Its Manipulation of “Real Beauty” to Unsightly Heights
The skin care brand wants another viral success. And they’ll get it at the expense of women’s dignity.