Advertising Age published content on Adland’s alleged shift in beauty standards, presenting a plethora of pouting, pissing, and pontificating.
Sorry, but there has been no shift—contrary to the performative propaganda from brands like Dove and Always.
Eurocentric beauty standards continue to dominate—along with the discriminating creators of such mirrors, models, and measures.
Saying anything otherwise is White noise.
Inside advertising’s shift in beauty standards—body positivity backtrack and the rise of AI models
By Adrianne Pasquarelli
Every August, Cindy Gallop pages through the September issue of Vogue—long considered the fashion bible—and posts her reactions in real-time on X. In the past, the diversity, equity and inclusion advocate and industry consultant has used the hashtag #CarefullyCalibratedDiversity to reference brands’ overly obvious attempts to check the DEI box regarding size and ethnic diversity. But this year, she expects marketers to abandon even that façade.
“Permission has now been given to abandon any pretense, or superficial attempt at diversity,” said Gallop, the founder and CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn. “It’s not only that you are free to abandon all pretense of diversity—it would now actively advantage you to go in the complete opposite direction as right now there is a huge audience celebrating tradwives, celebrating ballerina farm, celebrating womanhood as blonde-haired and blue-eyed, sorority rush.”
Recent marketing, such as American Eagle’s controversial Sydney Sweeney campaign and Guess’ use of an AI-created fashion model, demonstrates a shift by brands away from the body positivity movement of the last few years. As more companies backtrack on DEI initiatives, they appear also to be shying away from the physical inclusivity of plus-size models—instead, they are promoting body stereotypes.
Experts point to causes such as the digital pressure from social media to be thin, as well as the growing usage of GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy. Meanwhile, those brands that are still embracing diversity have little to say about it at a time when the public is eager to voice its outcry.
“In general, society is swinging back from body positivity and body acceptance into one focused more on fitness and being stereotypically hot like Sydney Sweeney,” said Kyla Noni Brathwaite, assistant professor in communication and media at the University of Michigan. “We are seeing that in advertising as well.”
The shift marks a departure from the more realistic body types brands such as Athleta, Old Navy and even American Eagle-owned Aerie had been embracing in their advertising. That work appeared driven in part by celebrities with different body types such as Lizzo and the Kardashians, noted Yalda T. Uhls, the founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA.
“But we all have grown up, older generations and younger generations, internalizing these images that we think we really should have, so it’s very easy to reset back to thinking that’s better than someone who has a regular body or is a little bit overweight,” she said.
Some brands are quietly size-diverse
Few brands are willing to discuss the body diversity landscape, even those marketers that are still featuring size-diverse models. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch’s denim campaign released late last month includes a variety of body types and skin tones. A recent Instagram post from the brand attracted more than 6,220 likes and prompted comments such as “Thank GOD Abercrombie isn’t cutting out their plus size models/clothing-one of the few major brands doing what’s right.”
Similarly, the Gap, which has regained relevancy in recent years, regularly uses diverse models in its ads, including by body type and age. Earlier this year, the clothier won acclaim for a campaign featuring 56-year-old actress Parker Posey.
Both Abercrombie and the Gap declined to comment for this story.
Another marketer, activewear brand Sweaty Betty, debuted a body-positive campaign “Wear The Damn Shorts” in May, following research the brand conducted that found 67% of women say body image negatively affects their self-esteem.
“Our Wear The Damn Shorts campaign is all about trying to help women feel uplifted and confident in their own skin,” a Sweaty Betty spokeswoman wrote via email. But she declined to comment further about the campaign and the issue of body diversity in the advertising landscape.
When Guess used AI to create its blonde-haired, flawlessly complexioned model for a fashion spread in Vogue last month, many consumers were aghast. Shortly after the Sweeney “genetics” campaign, the move reignited the debate over body inclusivity, artificial beauty and the future of real human models.
Guess did not return requests for comment.
Two years ago, Levi’s faced backlash when it announced it would be using artificial intelligence to incorporate more diversity in its models, prompting consumers to question why the brand wasn’t simply hiring more models of color. In response, Levi’s appeared to backtrack and confirmed its focus on live models and photo shoots. The brand’s latest year-long campaign features Beyoncé and includes products from the singer.
Gallop called replacing models with AI “ridiculous” and noted the hypocrisy.
“It’s ironic that brands all say that people value authenticity—it’s true, people do value authenticity,” she said. “So if you want to build emotional connections with your consumers, you do that through what you create and you do that through having people in your ads that your target audience can relate to.”
Gen Z values authenticity
Brands using AI models risk backlash from Gen Z, a group that is fast-growing in buying power and influence. Gen Zers are widely known to value authenticity from brands, especially in ads. Unlike older generations, the cohort is also tuned in to marketing in particular, often calling out the discipline by name on social media, for example, something writer Emily Sundberg recently referenced in her business newsletter “Feed Me.”
“Gen Z are media literate and can spot a box-ticking ad from a mile off,” said Audrey Birner, U.S. insights director at Beano Brain, a specialist agency that focuses on generational trends. She noted that the group is “fluent” in the language of marketing because they’ve been marketed to since birth on various platforms. “They’re not looking for performative inclusion, they want authenticity.”
The growing adoption of GLP-1 drugs is adding to the pressure for perfection in ads, experts say. For example, Brathwaite noted that the widespread availability of such medications, and their use by prominent celebrity figures, have made it more acceptable to change your body to be thin. In addition, social media tips on getting skinny or the latest workout or diets have created more of a focus on stereotypical bodies.
“Specifically with TikTok, I’m always observing new trends in terms of how bodies should look—this is how women should look or act or be, this is the new workout you should try,” Brathwaite said.
But overall, more than two-thirds of U.S. women are plus-size, and it might be in brands’ best interest to court such majorities at a time when bottom lines are under economic pressure. Gallop noted the disconnect between the ultra-thin consumer brands they think will want their clothes and the real person who will actually pay for them.
“They will not [pay] if they do not feel an emotional connection with you and they do not feel that you want to sell to them,” she said. “Any brand with guts should be looking at the American Eagle debacle and saying, ‘How can we be the opposite of that?’”
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