is a skinny me a better me ? hell no !

female-targetted magazines are always going to be navigating the treacherous waters of projecting women as wholesome beings, not as incomplete, dismembered ‘Others’ who only become complete once they have the perfect body, the perfect man, the perfect hair and whatever else the mainstream deems useful as a measure of worth.

i accept that this is difficult and applaud those mags that do get it right most of the time. such female re)presentation feeds and/or fuels my choice in magazine titles – and for this reason LONGEVITY SA has, more than often, got my vote. However, the recent June 2009 edition has me a tad conflicted. the magazine’s positioning is ‘the power of healthy living’ yet the magazine was replete with stories of weight loss and a plethora of ads with products promising the joy that comes with ‘being slender’? Am i missing something here ? Here is a magazine that claims to espouse the virtues of healthy living yet seems to imply (much like the other mags that i do not read) that a skinny me is a better me ! is it any wonder then that women and young girls have such poor body-esteem, when everywhere we turn we are made to feel this overwhelming “sense of lack” which implies that unless we are the EXTERNALLY-DEFINED PERFECT THING, then we are not complete.

Brand truths

• A brand’s positioning must serve as the map that defines its territory and informs the choices it makes – so if you are about healthy living, then follow through with choices that are truly reflective
• Once there is incongruence between what your brand claims and what it actually does- a credibility gap emerges which works against your brand’s reputation (in the long term)
• Say it, then do it..