NYC the Blog had been in touch with the pretzel people who said...
"Based on the feedback received from you and other bloggers, we will be taking the ‘You can never be too thin’ ads down."
The company has also apologized.
So they replaced the ad. And what did they replace it with?
Um.
Thanks to EV Grieve reader K. Knipfing for the photos.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Into thin air: Pretzel maker removing 'too thin' ads
These pretzel dopes obviously went to Hollywood Upstairs Advertising College.
ReplyDeleteamerican brains at their best - at work.
ReplyDeletei'm speechless
Those pretzel people are beyond dumb. The new message is exactly the same as the old message. The message still centers on body size.
ReplyDeleteOk so they changed their ad, but did you really expect something not to do with body size?
ReplyDeleteEven if you were able to get about 200 people to not buy their product, it still does not matter for the big picture.
So go ahead and write more letters if that what makes you smile.
While you write your letter, ask yourself this, will my boycott hurt their bottom line? After you come up with your answer, have a good laugh at your own expense. If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?
This ad copy is based on something some daft supermodel caught flack for saying, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". There was a moment of uproar at the time that she was encouraging anorexia. So, the choice of slogan is quite intentional. It seems the entire ad campaign is based around "thin slogans for people, applied to our food" - they probably have half a dozen of these. Whether the "apology" and "bowing to feedback" are intentional pokes in the eye / grab for press, or whether they sincerely pulled the original ad only to have it replaced with a more-offensive variant from their pool of thinspirational riffs is debatable.
ReplyDeleteWell, to be honest, I've never heard of Pretzel Crisps until now.
ReplyDeleteNice SD reference.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ-jFcLBHjc
Have a pretzel woth your adderall-mindless skenks
ReplyDeleteDoh! Haha! If only my body were as skinny as my mind...
ReplyDeleteThese pretzels are making me thristy!
ReplyDeletehttp://wwws.us/6dipw8
Thanks, James. The Steely Dan headline was really just to drive Slum Goddess bonkers.
ReplyDeleteI think I like the first ad better.
ReplyDeleteActually, "You can never be too thin" is way worse than the new one. Th new one is celebrating being thin (and I guess healthy), while the earlier one was fucked up because it is saying that you can never be too thin, which is basically an anorexics mentality. If someone is really skinny, it's saying you can always be skinnier.
ReplyDeleteI didn't say that 100% eloquently but you get the point.
"You can’t be too rich or too thin” (or “A woman can never be too rich or too thin") is a popular phrase that originated in the 1960s. Women were obsessed with being thin (a popular 1960s model was called “Twiggy") and everyone wants more money.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase was popularized by Babe Paley (1915-1978), the socialite wife of CBS television executive William S. Paley. The Duchess of Windsor (1895-1986) also used the phrase. Gloria Vanderbilt (born in 1924) has also been associated with “too rich or too thin.”
New York Journal-American society columnist “Suzy Knickerbocker” (Aileen Mehle) wrote in April 1967: “...and Mrs. J. Gordon Douglas Sr. of Newport. It is Mrs. Douglas who is responsible for one of the most trenchant remarks of recent years. ‘A woman,’ quoth she, ‘can never be too thin or too rich.’” http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/you_cant_be_too_rich_or_too_thin/
Plus I'm pretty certain that this was also the slogan for 5th Avenue chocolate bars during the 1980's.
Interesting... thanks for the background, anon 1:29
ReplyDeleteThe only thing offensive about this ad are some of the comments it's yielding. As if someone is going to look at the ad and think "Hmmm, an eating disorder sounds like a convenient and logical solution to my weight problem!"
ReplyDeleteAnd why are references to dieting and/or being thin are what really sets people off when it comes to body image, but most people wouldn't DARE address the health concerns with people being overweight? You can call an intervention when someone looks a little thin but god forbid tell your friend who just had his foot cut off from Diabetes that he should really put down that donut.
Such hypocrisy!
I rather be rich!!
ReplyDeleteLOL it's so blatant they did that on purpose that it's funny. It's kind of like an FU though? I mean come on they can't be that dumb. They are getting free press and are probably working off the school of "Any press is good press".
ReplyDeleteStill horrible message. I'm just laughing at the ridiculousness of it. Way to go thin pretzels WTG.
does anyone get that the "being thin" is referring to the pretzel not a person?
ReplyDelete