We've Been Doing this in HUM3321 so I Get to be the Expert!

I don't have any magazines so I'll just try my best to be stereotypical about them for the sake of this post.

A lot of magazines will feature ads (not their ads, of course) with thin, beautiful, and often heavily photoshopped people on them, who coincidentally usually don't wear a lot of clothing, whether they're selling soap, cars, or pizza. This is because sex sells. Period.

I suppose I would pay attention to an ad with an actual family member in it, but if an ad had someone who looked like the people in my family, as in not the idol of perfection, then I still wouldn't really care, since I watch and look at ads for entertainment value. For instance, if an ad was funny, then hey, I just got entertained for 30 seconds, and that's a big win for me. I don't care what the people look like, but if it's people I've seen before (people from other commercials, celebrities), then I suppose that I pay a little bit more attention.

Yes, aesthetic standards do vary by race. For instance, non-white women are often portrayed as animal-like for some odd reason.

Dove has been leading in the race in not having all beautiful people in their ads. This appeals perhaps a bit less to the audience, but the honesty and publicity of the campaign has likely been coming in as a net financial benefit for the company.