It is this phrase that we avoid from people who tend to point out our insecurities and have no idea of what we are personally going through. Unfortunately, this is also the closing line of the Belo Medical Group’s recent advertisement highlighting the ‘Pandemic Effect’ that goes along with their tagline, “Tough times call for beauty measures.”
The campaign ad portrays a woman sitting on her couch being stressed-out from watching pandemic-related news. At the same time, she gradually goes through some physical transformation including the dark circles under her eyes, acne on her skin, weight gain, and facial and body hair growth. Backlash from social media was received by the beauty company being told as insensitive, disappointing, and ignorant.
Ano nga bang nangyari?
Since the start of 2020, we have been trying to adapt to the massive changes brought by the pandemic. The uncertainty of our future is overwhelming and mostly difficult for our fellow citizens who have been struggling to survive every single day. From the rising number of COVID19 cases, death tolls, increasing unemployment rates, and our unstable mental health situations, it’s perfectly understandable to feel exhausted. We do our best, whatever our best may look like. The real ‘Pandemic Effect’ entails much more than dealing with certain beauty standards that big beauty brands promote. There are ethical and more reasonable ways to market such products without making the customers feel badly about themselves.A day after the release of the ‘Pandemic Effect’ film, they issued an apology statement addressing the criticisms and took the ad down.
Nonetheless, it is important to call out people, particularly these huge businesses, who bank on people’s insecurities. Let this be a reminder that no one should shame us for not complying with society’s beauty standards. Tough times call for loving ourselves even more for living and surviving with limited resources amidst the pandemic.
