Ladies, Special K wants you to stop with the fat talk.
According to the cereal company's new 2-minute spot, 93% of women engage in some form of social media self-shaming. To help put an end to the negativity, online and in real life, Special K created a nondescript clothing store and posted real, fat-talking tweets around the store and on price tags.
At first the women were outraged to see comments like "I have a muffin top" and "#cow" scattered around, but eventually, they come to realization that they are their own worst enemy.
"This is like looking at the inside of my head," says one woman in the commercial.
But Special K isn't breaking any new ground with the female empowerment marketing angle. Dove and Pantene are among other brands who went viral in 2013 for ads which questioned body image.
The cereal ad, which was posted on YouTube Dec. 2, has not been as well received as Dove's sketch-artist viral ad though. Many are questioning the brand's message, considering Special K sells several diet/low-fat foods tailored to help women lose weight -- a line of thinking that goes against accepting your body as is.
The ad is part of a larger campaign by Special K and celebrity Tyra Banks to "Fight Fat Talk." Banks tweeted a "shhh selfie" to promote the message.
It’s time 2 strut through life w/ extra boom boom pow. #FightFatTalk w/ me & @SpecialKUS by posting UR SHHHH selfie! pic.twitter.com/xYxXTjX2vT— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) December11, 2013
Coincidentally, the tweet immediately before her "fightfattalk" tweet was of her posing with a cake and making a somewhat negative reference to the size of her forehead.
Can it get any BIGGER? No, not my forehead! pic.twitter.com/pKVXrug9Kz— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) December 8, 2013
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