Thursday
Jun072012
Advertising, Mom Bloggers, "Real" Moms, and the Purpose of Advertising
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Today Jessica Gottlieb posted about a new Cool Whip ad campaign featuring mom bloggers. The campaign is being promoted on the Cool Whip facebook page and Jessica's post discusses some of the critical comments that were made about the campaign.
A lot of the comments suggested that the moms should be more "real", meaning not all thin, pretty and put together. These moms are very much "real" (I've even met some of them), but that doesn't mean they are representative of what you might see on the playground on any given Saturday afternoon.
The dilemma, however, between the critique of advertising and the purpose of advertising, is that if you see a fat, stressed out, mom wearing ketchup and ice cream stained clothing, you aren't likely to buy Cool Whip. You may empathize with the mom and relate to her, but you won't want to be her and you won't feel like Cool Whip will help you be more like her. You see, advertising doesn't speak to our critical thinking abilities. "The entire purpose of advertising," as Marion Nestle said today, "is to slip below the radar of critical thinking" (via @AppetiteforProfit on twitter). As much as everyone really knows that Cool Whip isn't going to make you thin, beautiful or put together, your subconscious wants to believe that it will and doesn't want to be reminded of the cruel truth that it really isn't good for you and isn't going to do you any favours.
The Dove campaign a few years ago that showed women of different shapes and sizes was a bit different. Soap doesn't really impact your size one way or another, so showing women with a wide range of body sizes is not a big deal and may in fact be a great way to promote their product. For Cool Whip, however, showing diversity in body size may simply have reminded people of things they want to forget as they purchase their Cool Whip.
I know that there are women who are happy with their bodies, regardless of the size, and that is great. But there is also still a huge diet culture, fat shaming, and fat hating element of our culture and if Cool Whip wants to sell to that segment of the population, it has to get past their critical thinking (and label reading) abilities with an image that tells you that you can consume Cool Whip and be skinny and happy too.
What do you think? Could Cool Whip show truly representative moms and still sell its product? Or does it need to sell a certain image, which these moms represent?
A lot of the comments suggested that the moms should be more "real", meaning not all thin, pretty and put together. These moms are very much "real" (I've even met some of them), but that doesn't mean they are representative of what you might see on the playground on any given Saturday afternoon.
The dilemma, however, between the critique of advertising and the purpose of advertising, is that if you see a fat, stressed out, mom wearing ketchup and ice cream stained clothing, you aren't likely to buy Cool Whip. You may empathize with the mom and relate to her, but you won't want to be her and you won't feel like Cool Whip will help you be more like her. You see, advertising doesn't speak to our critical thinking abilities. "The entire purpose of advertising," as Marion Nestle said today, "is to slip below the radar of critical thinking" (via @AppetiteforProfit on twitter). As much as everyone really knows that Cool Whip isn't going to make you thin, beautiful or put together, your subconscious wants to believe that it will and doesn't want to be reminded of the cruel truth that it really isn't good for you and isn't going to do you any favours.
The Dove campaign a few years ago that showed women of different shapes and sizes was a bit different. Soap doesn't really impact your size one way or another, so showing women with a wide range of body sizes is not a big deal and may in fact be a great way to promote their product. For Cool Whip, however, showing diversity in body size may simply have reminded people of things they want to forget as they purchase their Cool Whip.I know that there are women who are happy with their bodies, regardless of the size, and that is great. But there is also still a huge diet culture, fat shaming, and fat hating element of our culture and if Cool Whip wants to sell to that segment of the population, it has to get past their critical thinking (and label reading) abilities with an image that tells you that you can consume Cool Whip and be skinny and happy too.
What do you think? Could Cool Whip show truly representative moms and still sell its product? Or does it need to sell a certain image, which these moms represent?
Reader Comments (51)
Ha! I just left a comment on Jessica's blog about this post. I think you're exactly right: selling sweets with an overweight person is creating an association that Cool-Whip really doesn't want. Advertising is always going to promote the best case scenario--attractive people happily & easily using the perfectly prepared product--because that's the proven formula.
I see more product info on this blog, via your critiques of this or that, than I do in real life where I avoid advertising! What is anyone doing hanging around on a Cool Whip Facebook page anyways? People who are should probably do a sanity check ...
My opinion since you asked: Nothing in those pictures looks genuine. The photos, the poses, the food, the meaningless one-word taglines, or the "whipped topping". Gotta buy cool whip so when I'm crunched for time I can cleverly think to myself "crunch time" while I eat my ice cream (or more likely, frozen desert) covered in delish corn-syropey-hyrdo-oil.
Well, and even if they showed a more average sized women she would be done up for a photo shoot. If you stopped by any of the women's homes on an average, overwhelming day she probably doesn't look like that. That being said I think they could have included a more average sized mom and not compromised the image they were going for.
It is advertising and it will be interesting to see what Cool Whip does with the feedback. Brands are having to wrestle with the way they advertise and connect with current and future customers due to the changes in the media landscape.
Thanks for covering Annie.
Oh, and I'm sure that the cool whip marketing people are making calculated moves. I'm sure they want bloggers to comment all over the internet about their product, raise a little controversy maybe. They have their targets figured out, you can be sure of that. It's probably a matter of name recognition they're going for. Quick, you have 3 seconds: Think of a brand of whip cream that's not cool whip.
I'm inclined to agree with Marion Nestle's take on advertising. It aims to by pass your rational self and sell you on the idea that purchasing their products will somehow make your life better even if it won't. And, like it or not, fat hating is an element of our culture so associating Cool Whip with a not culturally ideal body image (rightly or wrongly so) isn't going to help sell Cool Whip.
But I think if companies go full out with a "real bodies" campaign it can be a different story. Much like the Dove campaign you pictured. Rather than let their ads fully bypass the rational they very blatantly said, "Look at us. We're all about women in all shapes and sizes. Doesn't that appeal to you, body conscious consumer who objects to fat shaming? Love your body. Feel good about it no matter how it's shaped. Buy our stuff now please."
While I think a full on "real bodies" campaign would be way more difficult for a dessert product like Cool Whip, I'm sure they could find a way to make it work if they wanted to. But I think they assume associating Cool Whip with higher BMIs wouldn't be the most profitable way for them to go so they stick with thinner "real moms."
I buy whipping cream in cartons from the milk company (none in particular, whichever one I grab off the shelf, ideally organic if available) and whip it myself.
Forgive me, but who cares? I don't eat the stuff, because it is completely unhealthy, and I don't read the magazines where they advertise, because they're crap. Let's spend our time discussing and thinking about things that matter and stop paying any attention to advertisements. Buy what you need and what serves the purpose without toxic ingredients and harmful impacts to the environment.
I love the idea and philsophy behind the Dove campaign, especially as it relates to young girls. There are many "real life" mom's I'd buy Cool Whip from, I honestly don't think I'm more prone to buy a product because it's being pushed by a "perfect" looking mom. One that looks stressed out and has ketchup up in their hair...that might be pushing it, but I'd laugh (because I have been there) and it might inspire me to buy as well.
I agree with several points here. Of course advertising is all about being pretty. You want a well represented product. That takes pretty models and pretty desserts in this case. As much as we want to keep it "real", advertising is superficial. I mean think about it. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and gotten exactly what you saw on tv? So no, a woman in sweats and a pony tail with no makeup on is not going to get it done. However, there are TONS of beautiful women who are size 10, 12, 14 ect they could've used. Now I don't think think these models pictured should be penalized because they are skinny because there are real moms like that too, I just think a variety of body shapes could've been used and presented it in a tasteful manner.
Amen Farrah.
Who cares? Well, evidently, you don't.
I happen to believe that media critique and analysis is worth discussing, considering the huge (often negative) impact it has on our society.
I also happen to be a blogger and the issue of how/when/if bloggers participate in corporate campaigns is a topic of interest to me.
But that's okay. We don't have to be interested in all the same things.
They don't look overly skinny. The direction that "average" is headed is not a good one when it comes to weight. I wouldn't expect an advertising company to go out of their way to hire overweight models for Cool Whip advertisements, for the reasons you mention.
But it is kind of strange how they all have the same hair style...
And the words are dumb. They don't say, "buy this - it's yummy." They say, "buy this - they'll like you more." Its not about the food, it's about the woman. Which doesn't sell the product to me. Obviously it gets everyone focusing on the woman. If the product was more of the focus, I don't think people would even notice that the women were healthy-looking.
And Dad has a good point - who hangs out on Cool Whip's Facebook page??
It is kind of interesting that they are all not very curvy (not just that they aren't overweight, but that they don't seem to have large busts or hips), have long straight hair, and no glasses. Think about how different the ad would've looked if there were 4 moms who were pretty and also thin, like these moms, but if they had included a dark-skinned African-American mom, a mom with visible tattoos and/or nose ring, a Jewish or Italian mom with glasses and big curly hair, a short curvy mom like me (I do have long straight hair though), or even just a mom with short hair like Meagan from theHappiestMom.com? I think it could've been beautiful but felt much more real. These moms are gorgeous, but I think Cool Whip should've aimed for more diversity than that if they wanted to advertise it as "real moms". Maybe too many real moms have realized Cool Whip is junk ;)
Honestly? All advertising is clothed in layers upon layers of bullcrap. Dove? Is actually a GREAT example of this. They had this wonderful campaign here in North America - the same one you mention. And women wrote everywhere how great that was and granted Dove undeserved kudos and backslaps. Why? Because Dove sells skin-lightening creams in Asia. So much for celebrating woman as "nature made them."
Whether Cool Whip features women of different sizes or not is irrelevant. Advertising is selling dreams made of smoke.
This makes me think more about who the ads are targeted to. Presumably there are people who actually want to hang out on the Cool Whip facebook page and additionally see feeding people tasty things as a means of gaining approval and getting people to like them.
And presumably there are people who actually buy Cool Whip despite the horrifying ingredient list.
I'm sure the Cool Whip ad department has made a strategic decision to target that demographic because they're the most profitable (as opposed to targeting whatever demographic I (and I suspect many others reading this post) are in). So from Cool Whips POV it doesn't matter how the ad comes across to me. I'm not going to give them money anyway and they know it.
Absolutely. I didn't intend to endorse Dove as a company or even as a forward thinking company. I just figured if I didn't mention that campaign, people would say "why couldn't they have done what Dove did?". I've seen plenty of bad or questionable campaigns from Dove too.
There are no moms, "real life" or not, that I'd buy Cool Whip from. :D
I think each of the 4 women here is attractive, but not overly gorgeous. Like any mother I might run into at the playground. So I don't get the criticism that they don't look like "real moms." They mostly look a lot like me, actually. However, they could have been a little more ethnically diverse, like someone else mentioned.
I gotta say, if "fat" isn't what Cool Whip wants people associating with their product "fake" probably isn't either. I mean, if I'm gonna get fat, I might as well eat *real* whipped cream...
Also, Cool Whip should totally hire CrunchyConMommy- I think she'd produce a much more authentic ad. Though I'd also like to see at least a TokenDad.
I'm confused by "real Mom" ads when they don't connect with me or recognize me as a "real Mom." Does Cool Whip want me to think they're in my corner? Does Cool Whip want to relate to me as a "Real Mom" or a person who wishes she was thinner? I gotta say, if they featured fat women with ketchup stains looking relieved, surrounded by children who were content with a snack, and rewarding the Mom for caring and trying? I might feel favorable towards them. That might slip past my critical thinking cap and into my "wants to feel like a good Mom even though she is busy and/or lazy" brain.
Mostly this just looks like models to me.
I personally love the taste of Cool Whip but never buy it because it is so unhealthy...sometimes I wonder what moms are thinking when they choose to become an ambassador for a product like this one...but each to her own.
I agree with you...it is interesting to look at advertising and product placement to realize how we are being duped into buying something when there is a better choice available. I am guilty of buying a product because of its advertising...it is posts such as yours that reset my compass!
"I also happen to be a blogger and the issue of how/when/if bloggers participate in corporate campaigns is a topic of interest to me. "
That's an interesting topic to me as well, but I don't see you really discussing that in this post. I don't know who any of those bloggers are, but if I were one of their readers, I'd consider abandoning their blog. I have stopped reading blogs when the sponsored posts got too frequent and were for products that I don't approve of (either based on what the product is or the company who sells it).
As to the question of whether or not "real" looking moms could sell cool whip, I think they could, to a point. A curvier, slightly older woman with a different hairstyle, sure. I'm sure that there's an age, weight, outside-of-the-mainstream-ness cut-off though.
Good answer, Annie. That's what I was waiting for someone to say.
Maybe I'm missing the point, but instead of criticizing the stupid advertisements, which take us all for a bunch of mindless, instinctual robots, and which will NEVER portray true, accurate or complete information and will most likely always portray someone's (not mine) idealistic image, why don't you all just stop buying these products and stop patronizing the sources where these advertisements can be found. That would send the loudest message. I sense a victim mentality here. Teach your children about responsible consumerism. This is PhD in Parenting, right? I truly do not mean to insult anyone, but you're not seeing the forest through the trees here.
I'm capable of planting a new forest on my property, while also tending to old sick trees in public spaces. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
You're right. I didn't talk a lot about it specifically, although I was thinking about it and it is raised to some extent in Jessica's post that I linked to. In general, I think that if moms want to pursue opportunities like this or like the Nestle Family blogger event, they need to be prepared to take some flack for it, either because of the company/product they are supporting or because of the nature of the campaign. They need to consider their options carefully and then stand behind their choices and be prepared for the consequences.
Great comment!
Oh, I liked the Cool Whip pitch better on Mad Men.
I was just talking about this topic on Twitter tonight. If a blogger TRULY loves a brand, I will pay more attention to it than advertising. It's like crowd sourcing a restaurant for lunch, if people I trust recommend a restaurant, I'm more likely to go. I'm an ambassador for brands that I wish would pay me.
About the appearance of the ladies chosen for this campaign, let's be serious for a moment. If they chose a plus sized woman, it would remind people that Cool Whip is garbage food (it does taste good though). People perceive curvy women to be unhealthy. Brutal, but true.
Mothers can't do anything without being picked apart.
"But there is also still a huge diet culture, fat shaming, and fat hating element of our culture and if Cool Whip wants to sell to that segment of the population, it has to get past their critical thinking (and label reading) abilities with an image that tells you that you can consume Cool Whip and be skinny and happy too."
The thing is, advertisers continue to contribute to our fat-shaming culture by only ever using skinny models (or only ever portraying them as the "positive" model vs the fat person being the negative, "sloppy" one). This isn't just about Cool Whip-- it's *everyone*. Across all forms of media, the "norm" is portrayed as a pretty, thin, white woman with straight hair. There's a reason why the Dove campaigns stand out to us-- because using women who look "different" (though much closer to what the vast majority of us look like) is VERY unusual.
This isn't a question of simply boycotting companies who succumb to this, because if you did you'd have to make everything yourself from scratch from stuff you yourself grew. It's THAT pervasive. And while I understand why Cool Whip kept with the status quo with this ad, I think it's far from pointless to question it. This is the sort of stuff that we're so used to that we don't even really "see" it until someone points it out, and when it goes unquestioned it only continues to contribute to the idea that thin, white, straight hair = GOOD/desirable and everything else = NOT GOOD/undesirable. These attitudes and assumptions aren't going to change if we keep giving everyone passes for using them.
It also seems odd that everyone seems to think the only options are these size 2 women, and someone who is obese. There's quite a lot of middle ground there, y'all. (another assumption perpetuated by ads like this one...)
Some studies have even shown that using plus size models backfires - Even when the target is larger women. When shown a photo of a normal and a plus-sized model, women in the middle (body size-wise) will relate to the larger image but with a NEGATIVE reaction.
We all want the fantasy, whether it's an issue of size or just feeling like we have it all together. I think this is fine, so long as we do stop periodically think about advertising critically. I grew up in a house where my dad was constantly yelling at the television, pointing out bullshit in everything from commercials to the news, and my husband and I do it now. It's in a light way, rarely angry, but it does help keep us in check and not buy into the hype of products.
To me these women are not 'real' not do to the fact that they are all a certain size, but rather than the whole campaign looks contrived. Fake smiles on top of a fake background. They do not look like 'messengers', 'magicians', or 'couriers'. They look like beautiful women who have been asked to promote a product. They could be moms, or not. They could also be a different size or figure. It just looks fake, and staged.
I think a representative mom would be more a mom in action. Trying to get cake out to a roomful of kids at a bday party. Serving up a backyard picnic.
agree, there's alot of middle ground!
Good topic! I think the group is diverse- in ethnicity and age especially. Ana is hispanic and Shelly is of East Indian Descent. I am the only one under 30 (25). As far as looking like "real moms," I think Jenny and I look better in real life and our other photos. (I don't know if that was intentional?)
As far as health is concerned, no doubt I knew I might get a lot of flack for this, but if you stepped into my house you would find us to be an extremely active, thin, healthy family. My motto has been everything in moderation and I don't necessarily ban certain things from my family or my diet.
I joined the campaign because I use the product (in moderation) and it sounded (and is) a neat campaign where a major brand is using bloggers in traditional media. I hope this campaign paves the way for other brands (and the type of brand that you all feel comfortable backing!) to search out bloggers for these types of opportunities. And lastly, to tell you the truth, we are in the middle of adopting so pay was a major factor and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
That is a good point about what is "normal" and not using "normal" creates the divide of what is "wanted" and what is "not wanted." If there was no problem, then they would have used women who differ like others have said. Really good point!
Yes that's what came to my mind as well. I think I have bought Cool Whip ONCE in my entire 55 years, and REAL organic cream so many times I can't count. (I just had to see what all the fuss was abt with Cool Whip as there are so many picnic dessert recipes with Cool Whip in it, but we didnt even finish the product as I recall as it is way too sweet and artificial-ly..yuk)
I love the Dove campaign of real women...at least they started a trend that may come to fruition in the next decade. There are changes afoot, I think, in the culture, as regular women are now blogging, and companies are now looking to partner with influential regular women who are part of the blogosphere. I find it so ironic that there are SO MANY sweet, hihg empty calorie products being pushed with uber-thin, clear complexioned models in the ads. If those models were actually making CW & other such products a part of their diet, they wouldn't look like that. I critically think about that ALL THE TIME. Annie, I think you are hitting on a appropriate topic...You are subtly asking women to critically think about advertising and its impact on society and children's minds. We are constantly being manipulated by big biz & the advertising. Obesity & diabetes are huge public health issues. We seem to just accept the brainwashing techniques. Look what happened in NYC..Mayor Bloomberg showed his thinking cap was on and Coca Cola came out and said that sugary drinks have no impact on obesity. Huh? You as a consumer believe that information? Sounds like Koch brothers in action to me.
Sponsor with Care: Why we're missing the point here in focusing on looks...http://www.slowlovelife.com/2012/06/cool-whip-controversy.html
Totally agree with PhD: very important to examine ad culture and women.
Oh, I suspected you already knew about Dove -- I was just pointing it out for those who aren't aware of the hypocrisy. :-) I cringe whenever I see folks wax poetic on Dove's campaigns here in N. America.
You are right. As an overweight mom, I get where some of the are coming from but it's not any more nice to say these women aren't real moms. We can't punish them because they are thin. Advertising is about the hidden messages and if society saw large women with cool whip, then comment would be made about why did they pick bigger women, are they trying to say big women eat fatty foods all the time? No matter what we do, people will complain.
Yeah, and quite frankly none of the women in the Dove ads look that awful, either. I see "worse" at the beach all the time...these are still above average looking women, if you want to get into nuts and bolts about how unattractive they have to be...which of course is weird, too.
These are "real" women (mommy bloggers) who look fake (sorry if you know them and they are cool in real life or whatever) and the fake trying to seem real—it seems to click to me in that respect. I'm not their target market, though, because I probably wouldn't even take a free tub of the stuff. I think a good strategy for Cool Whip might be going kitschy, admitting it is totally weird chemical crazyness, maybe a picture of a punk rock looking person or a John Waters character with the tag "Not wholesome" or "So bad, it's good"....
These are "real" women (mommy bloggers) who look fake (sorry if you know them and they are cool in real life or whatever) and the fake whipped cream trying to seem real—it seems to click to me in that respect. I'm not their target market, though, because I probably wouldn't even take a free tub of the stuff. I think a good strategy for Cool Whip might be going kitschy, admitting it is totally weird chemical craziness and embracing that—maybe a picture of a punk rock looking person or a John Waters character with the tag "Not wholesome" or "So bad, it's good"....
Isn't cool whip like "cream product"? It isn't really dairy. I too use heavy cream and shake it myself.
Not sure if this adds anything to the conversation, but when I first got out of college, I worked in a commercial casting office in Chicago. I helped cast several "real people" campaigns and we ALWAYS chose "commercial-looking" individuals. Now, as someone who was a commercial actress, I can tell you that this is a very specific type, and one that sort of defies description. It doesn't matter what race/ethnicity/body shape you are... but you need to have this undefinable, vague, "commercial" appearance (typically, this means not too model-y, not too unique). When they write the "breakdowns" for what types they are looking for, they make a big deal out of it when they want someone "not commercial".
In addition, the casting of commercials and print ads is ridiculously calculated. They agonize and deliberate on minutia - the shape of someone's nose, the way their smile turns down a bit on one side... often, as a commercial actor, you'll get put "on hold" for a role b/c the director and ad agency like you, and then you get a call a few days later saying that the client wanted a different look. (And yes, that is as frustrating as it sounds...especially when you've already been through one audition and a callback which required driving 60 minutes in westside LA traffic while you pay a babysitter... but I digress...;) )
Cool Whip is a product which appeals to a certain market segment, and I'm sure these women were chosen more for their looks than their blogs (not to say their blogs aren't awesome - I don't know who they are so I am totally not implying that they aren't great bloggers in addition to being good looking). In the commercial world, it's easy to forget what "real people" look like, since you're staring at a group of generally good-looking people all day long. "Real" means Jennifer Aniston, circe 1996 Friends episodes.
All this is to say, that I'm sure the casting for this particular campaign was no different; they probably headed into it with the intention of picking "real" women, but were then most comfortable choosing the ones who looked most like "real" commercial actors.
Gotta love show business.
Yes - But they also *make* the women in the ads look like their expectation of women in ad campaigns. I mean, maybe in real life all those women style their hair like that, but they probably don't, then there's air brushing and digital altering. I don't know if you guys caught it, but one of the bloggers (Emily) commented upthread and she said she thinks she looks better in other photos (and probably in real life) - the women in those pictures don't look like that because those are heavily artificial photos. If we got them all in a room, we might think they look a lot more like "real" mothers than just looking at the photos. There are two women of color in this campaign (so not all white, only 50% white which is actually pretty great by ad campaign standards), and furthermore, Cool Whip could have used actual models and shown us terrifyingly thin and unreal looking women, but instead they paid successful bloggers who actually use their product, which I think is kind of cool, especially as publicity for the bloggers in question. I think harnassing the grass roots power of successful blogs (many of which are written by women) is a great thing, frankly, if only because it means that advertisers are beginning to recognize the power of "mommy blogging". I feel pretty ambivalently about lifestyle blogs, but I always admire the women who are able to transform hobby blogs into businesses - what ingenuinity and smarts! And I'm all about rewarding them.
(And while I think it's important to critique the messages in ad campaigns and choices of models, etc, I'm a little squeaked out by too much policing of the appearance of the women in question, because they are "real people" and not models, and women do enough policing of each other's appearance.)
I think the mommy blogs, to the extent that they have become vehicles for product pushing in editorial content should be just as scrutinized as any other campaign.
I'm not against advertising on a blog, when it is clear that is what it is(like on this blog). There is a lot of subtle advertising in the blogosphere where the bloggers aren't making clear their intentions(that they are receiving money to mention products in their editorial content).
To the extent the mommy bloggers have decided to do mainstream advertising for a product like Cool Whip, they should expect criticism.
Thanks so much for starting this conversation, Annie! I appreciate that you are a critical thinker and that you encourage that "skill" among your readers.
I have several thoughts:
(A) I LOVE the new trend to have bloggers/writers in advertising campaigns (instead of celebrities). It's so much fun to open up a catalog or to see a TV commercial...and think, "Oooh! I know him/her!"
Caryn Bailey of Rockin' Mama was recently featured in a Walmart ad. It made me smile to see her and her son in the pictures.
(B) I don't think I have ever bought Cool-Whip nor do I ever plan to. When we have a recipe that calls for whipped cream, we buy real heavy cream and "whip" it up ourselves...so much tastier (and healthier too!).
(C) If Cool Whip approached me to be in an ad campaign like this one, I would kindly decline because it is not a product that I feel comfortable "standing behind." BUT If Toyota or ERGObaby or Tea Collection or Whole Foods or REI asked me, I'd sign my name across that contract pronto. ;)
I detest Cool Whip and won't buy it regardless of how it's advertised.
I agree with those who have said that the women look this way partly because they are in staged and retouched advertising photos. If I were in an ad campaign (for some product I'd be willing to endorse) I'm certain that they'd style my hair differently than I do, I'd be wearing make-up which I normally don't, my smile would look kind of fake, they'd make me smile with lips together because I waived orthodontia, and they'd retouch my gray hairs and wrinkled forehead. Oh well.
About their weight, though: It's true that these 4 women are not a representative cross-section of mothers' diversity of sizes. However, it's unfair and insulting to say, "How about some moms who look like they have children?" or they don't "have curves" [comments on the Facebook page]. I am shaped similarly to those women, and I AM A REAL MOM! B-cup breasts can feed babies, too, and every one of those women has visible curves! I think it's fascinating that one of the comments on Facebook refers to these women as "size 4" and one of the comments here refers to "size 2"--I look like them, but I'm size 8 or 10 depending on the brand; the commenters are exaggerating the smallness of the women. Just because a large proportion of people are overweight these days doesn't mean that people who aren't overweight ought to be reviled as abnormally thin, non-curvy, and unreal!
Mimicreme! It is an almond/cashew-based whipped cream.