Lifestyle

Reebok Ads Target Glutes, Legs, Objectify Women

By Denisse Rauda | bio | contact

Reebok’s new sneakers are making favorable promises but not without stirring a bit of controversy in the blogosphere.

Released earlier this year, Reebok’s EasyTone sneakers boast a design developed by a former NASA engineer to be comparable to the balance balls found at the gym. Claiming to have “28% more effective glute muscle toning” with use, the EasyTones create a “natural instability” which forces the leg muscles into exercise.

What’s causing the online blog storm does not really involve the claims Reebok is making about how the shoes will give wearers “ a better butt and legs,” nor is it the unnamed “independent university studies” which claim, “by wearing EasyTone, a woman could generate up to 28% more butt muscle activation.”

No, the controversy is about the way Reebok has chosen to advertise this new miracle sneaker.

“The bottom line is that some ads will beat around the bush and only imply objectification of a woman and her body, but this Reebok EasyTone ad campaign doesn’t waste any time hiding their message. They cut to the chase, make it all about a woman’s legs, butt and breasts, and purposely push aside any hint of reality—that a woman is really worth more than the sum of her parts,” Brianne Widaman said. Widaman is the President of Revolution of Real Women, one of the more active and vocal opponents of the EasyTone ads. Using their social networking accounts, Revolution of Real Women, has been alerting its members about the “exploitative, self-esteem bashing campaign” with hopes to curb sales of the shoe.

One of the EasyTone commercials Widaman is referring to features a woman in workout clothes explaining the benefits of the shoes she’s wearing all the while the camera keeps panning to her bottom and tracing her legs. Another focuses on an unidentified woman’s breasts and voice-overs give the allusion of conversating breasts. “Make your boobs jealous,” the male narrator says at the end of this particular commercial.

Asserting her “hate” for the ads, New York-based chiropractor Karen Erickson said she’s still all for the shoe itself. “There is research that backs toning shoes, however, if you really need to work your glutes, you won’t see drastic results unless you’re planning to walk ten miles a day in them,” Dr. Erickson said. For her, the benefits of the shoe more than surpass the advertisements.

In spite of the outpour about the ads, Reebok stands by its “fun” and “bold” ad campaign. “The feedback we have received tells us that many consumers look at the ads in exactly that light, however we acknowledge that some consumers do take exception to the content of the ads,” John Lynch, Head of US Marketing for Reebok, said via e-mail message with no word on whether anything would be done to further address the issue.

Working towards changing the way women are portrayed in the media, Widaman expressed the dire need for women to be involved in the way products are made for and sold to them. “One of the most critical ways we can go about making lasting change is by providing women with the knowledge of how manipulated we really are when it comes to advertising…If Reebok sees that women are buying into their exploitative, self-esteem bashing campaign, not only will they continue and possibly create more ads and products like this in the future, but other companies will catch on and follow suit.” Widaman added.

Katrin Ley, head of Reebok Womens, on the other hand, said in the EasyTone press release, “every woman has the right to a nice butt…”