Recently, as the train pulled out of the station on my way home, something caught my eye on the wall: an advertisement of a man wearing nothing but light blue shorts gleefully spraying an all-body deodorant on his crotch. Was I really seeing what I thought I was seeing? The next day, while waiting for the train to depart, I spotted the ad for men’s deodorant again; the tagline sprawled across the subway wall in big blue and yellow letters: Aunque choquen, pero que huelan bien. (Even though they clash, at least they smell good.) 

Are these products solving real problems, or selling us the idea that we are the problem?

Though the humor was not lost on me, I was struck by the boldness of the ad. More than that, I found myself wondering whether the product was really necessary. It reminded me of a YouTube video by Stephanie Lange, an Australian content creator who discusses beauty standards and their impact on women. In her video You’re Too Young to Look This Old, she weighs in on the impact of ‘Baby Botox’, a ‘treatment’ aimed at people as young as twenty to prevent the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. 

It got me thinking about how we take it for granted that marketers promote products that help us solve existing problems, but this is often not the case. What happens when the demand for greater profits takes precedence over the mental and physical wellbeing of the individual? The issue isn’t products that actually solve a problem; it’s marketing that creates a problem that needs solving, often exaggerating insecurities in the target population just to sell us the solution. This is especially prevalent in the beauty and wellness industry. 

This isn't new. We’ve seen this strategy before. In the early 1900s, Gillette famously started marketing razors to women, framing body hair as ‘unfeminine’ to boost its sales. Up until then, there had been no demand. This bold strategy created it, and with it the idea that perfectly normal body hair was something unsightly.

Unfortunately, we have not come a long way since then. These examples are not random. They reveal a larger pattern in marketing, industries turning normal features into flaws to increase their market shares. Historically, women were disproportionately targeted by such ads, as part of patriarchal marketing strategies. Take cellulite, for example. Women are bombarded with ads for anti-cellulite creams, firming lotions and massagers, often portraying normal bodies as inadequate and unattractive. 

Men, on the other hand, were traditionally the focus of products aimed at increasing the appearance of masculinity. However, in recent decades, they have been increasingly targeted with grooming kits, concealers, and anti-aging creams made specifically for their skin type. The strategy remains the same. It just affects more people.  

We’re not broken. We do not need fixing. Our society does. 

Let me be clear. I find nothing inherently wrong with taking care of oneself and using such products unless they’re proven harmful or pose a risk to health or life. In fact, in some cases, there are legitimate medical reasons for doing so. The issue here is why we’re doing it. Are we acting out of self-love or because of manufactured shame? 

None of us can deny that marketing has many benefits. The problem arises when the constant tide of seemingly harmless messages overwhelms us, exploiting our fears, eroding our self-worth, and deepening our insecurities. I am not immune to the effects of such marketing. Whenever I look in the mirror long enough, I am reminded of everything that society says needs fixing, products I must buy, but I refuse to fall for the lies. 

I reject the notion of branding something perfectly normal as less than desirable. Has anyone ever looked at an elephant and said: “It has too many wrinkles. Its ears need to be more perfectly shaped.”? Absurd, I know! And yet, this is the same logic sold to humans every day. 

So, what do we do? If we do choose to use these products and services, let’s make sure we’re well informed and not simply being manipulated. That strange ad on the subway wall led me to a deeper realization: we’re constantly influenced by the stories we’re sold. Still, just because something is on sale, it doesn’t mean we have to buy it, or buy into the lies we’re being told. Let’s pause and reflect, and try to reverse this overwhelming tide. 

There is nothing wrong with us. 

Let’s choose love and acceptance over manufactured shame. 

- Love and be loved 

The Stoic Hope