Part 1:

The first picture is an advertisement for Nicoderm CQ. Most advertisements for nicotine gum or patches all tend to have the same "Quitting is tough, but cancer is worse" message, but this one is geared specifically towards women. The message is now more like "Quit smoking or you'll lose your looks." The ad even says "The Beauty of Quitting," and displays a picture of a lovely woman (thin, light-skinned, and conventionally pretty) who we can assume has taken steps to "prevent the damage" smoking might inflict upon her otherwise flawless face by using this product.

There's no message about health; apparently now the number-one danger associated with smoking is not stroke, emphysema, or cancer, but ugliness. This ad presumes to know what women care about, and it is not having a healthy body. According to this ad, the only health benefits that a woman who quits smoking has to care about are the ones that show on the outside, the ones that make her prettier. She must aim not for healthier lungs, but healthier skin. She should care about her true assets (i.e. her looks) because long-lasting beauty is a much worthier goal than long-lasting health, right?

The next ad is almost entirely comprised of text, but the message is just as warped as the one in the previous picture. This is obviously an ad for a jewelry store, but it is not aimed at women. The ad assumes that men will be buying the jewelry, that they have both the money and the authority to buy diamonds. What goes unsaid is that a woman won't be buying jewelry for herself, that buying jewelry is what a man does to bribe or cajole a woman into a certain mood. Buy a girl a diamond bracelet and she'll be all smiles, right? It doesn't matter if you backed over her cat, just bring home something shiny and all will be forgiven. This implies that women are shallow and easily swayed by material goods. The tone of the ad is sarcastic; the implied "Because we all know how women can be, flighty and easily swayed," is missing from the ad.

Part 2:

When I first saw this ad, I thought it fit the typical "pretty skinny white girl" requirements, but then I looked more closely. "We all walk in different shoes," is the message that accompanies the picture. And though the woman in the picture might look like your typical pretty skinny white girl, you only need to read further to see that this woman is not average: she is in fact, a "paralympic athlete, actor and president of the Women's Sports Foundation." And then comes the Aha! moment: Those aren't her real legs, they're prosthetics. This ad doesn't say "Look at this disabled woman, isn't she beautiful?" It says, "Look at this beautiful, strong, AND accomplished woman, who is also physically challenged." This ad might not completely defy the beauty myth, but it is a step in the right direction. I think it's admirable that Kenneth Cole is promoting "non-uniform thinking," even if it seems more like a fashion-y pun than a modus operandi. But I do believe that this ad, which is just one part of a larger campaign that features models of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, levels of physical ability, sexual orientations, and political leanings, is a step toward seeing more positive and empowering advertisements in the future.