"You can't afford to be skinny!"

Let's take a look at the following ad, which comes to us from 1969:

If you read the text within the above ad, you'll find verbage that speaks negatively of the "thin, flat, skinny and underweight" look we so commonly see in present-day print. I find that awesome, and equally frustrating at the same time.

Awesome, because I wish that's what society was telling us these days—there are far too many of us that determine our own worth by the number on our scale. Correction—there are far too many of us that determine our own worth by the DECREASING number on the scale.

Frustrating, because this is another case of someone else determining what our self worth should be. Advertising, you sneaky beast! Let us be US, for silly's sake! Stop trying to make us feel less than deserving of our own happiness! Will it ever end? Will there ever be a standard for us to go by? No, and that's why we need to go by our own healthy standards. Not those proposed by printed pieces meant only to sell products.

In 1969, we needed to gain weight to find perfection.

In 2011, we need to lose weight to find perfection.

Is your head spinning in circles?

I call bullshiz. Ladies (gents, too)...stop referencing these digitally enhanced images. Stop referencing the unrealistic representation of the everyday. Start looking in the mirror and seeing yourselves for who you are both inside and out. Realize, once and for all, that what you see in print is not what you should be in person. Realize, once and for all, that you are much more than that flat image on the page in front of you. Life is meant to be lived to its fullest, healthiest potential.

You can't do that if you're constantly striving to be more like the unrealistic portrayals of life otherwise known as product advertisements.

The only thing you should be in person is YOU. Beautiful, original, unique and special you. Not the version of you based solely on, well...ads. And perhaps other people you think are (but are not really) better than you.

Am I a broken record? Perhaps. But if there's one thing I want you to take away from Daily Dose, it's the belief that you are who you are. And that person is amazing (and capable of so much more than you think). 

Question: See an ads lately that probably influenced you more than they should? Tell me about them, and whether or not you bought the product.