According to the latest PR campaigns, counting calories and tracking waistlines are no longer measures of health for female audiences. Exemplified by Meghan Trainor’s pop hit “All About that Bass,” the media has encouraged women to embrace their shape and feel comfortable in their own skin. Instead of focusing on scales and numbers, women simply want to feel good about themselves. The result is a shift to health-focused campaigns and marketing tactics that exclude buzzwords related to dieting.
Former
reality star of “The Hills” and current fashion mogul Lauren Conrad has announced she will remove the word “skinny” from her blog. In addition to fashion and beauty content, LaurenConrad.com frequently features work out plans and healthy food recipes. While these aspects of the site will remain, the blog’s editors believe that using words like “skinny” and “thin” promote the “body-shaming” that pop culture is fighting. Conrad acknowledged in a post that healthy women come in all shapes and sizes, leaving the word “skinny” for “skinny jeans” only. Instead, her readers will be encouraged to look “fit” and “toned.” If Pitch Perfect character “Fat Amy” were real, I think she would give Conrad two thumbs up for her latest branding decision.
Lean Cuisine frozen meals also changed its marketing tactics in an attempt to reverse its dropping sales. The brand is hoping to remove its “weight-loss” reputation, focusing on the “healthy-eating” aspect of the meals. Reflecting modern trends, Lean Cuisine is replacing buzzwords like “diet” with popular health terminology like “gluten-free” and “No GMO.” These changes will go beyond new packaging, including a social media and TV campaign. Commercials will show women “weighing” their accomplishments on a scale instead of themselves. In other words, it’s about defining women by what they do and not how they look. Considering Lean Cuisine is a brand known for calorie counts, that’s a pretty big deal.
It’s no secret that the majority of American women are not a size zero, so this “love yourself” trend makes sense. LaurenConrad.com and Lean Cuisine are among the first to make major branding changes, but they will likely not be the last to ditch extreme, weight-loss buzzwords. As a young female, I hope to see more PR campaigns focused on smart health decisions instead of strict diets. It’s all about that bass, right?
– Amy Alexander, Intern, Team Joanna
