NEDIC asks marketers to cast responsibly, retouch minimally

The National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) is taking marketers and fashion leaders to task for the way they cast women in ads and fashion spreads.
Developed by Toronto-based Zulu Alpha Kilo, NEDIC’s campaign launched last month to coincide with Eating Disorder Awareness Week and create awareness of how even brief exposure to images of thin models can contribute to eating disorders. ‘There is certainly a growing body of evidence that shows that, exclusively, some media images of women negatively impact on girls’ and women’s sense of worth and body dissatisfaction, regardless of their size,’ says Merryl Bear, director, NEDIC.
Consumer-focused creative features the tagline ‘Cast responsibly. Retouch minimally’ on a transit shelter execution in Toronto, encouraging women to drop their media-fuelled notions of body image along with their beauty magazines through a slot in the poster.


Meanwhile, a greeting card reading, ‘Thanks for helping to make me a successful anorexic,’ and a t-shirt with an extremely small waist and the message, ‘Please try this on to experience how your ads make us feel,’ were sent to select beauty and lifestyle marketers and fashion leaders in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
It all drives to NEDIC.ca, which houses a video and a pledge encouraging marketers and fashion leaders to commit to changing their casting and retouching habits. The public can get involved by signing a petition to push advertisers to broaden their definition of beauty.
‘We see this as a conversation that we’re starting with the entire industry,’ says Zak Mroueh, president/CD, Zulu Alpha Kilo. ‘We wanted to be really direct with everyone and say, ‘look, here’s what’s causing this problem.”

advertiser: Merryl Bear, Suzanne Phillips, Tina Szeto, NEDIC
agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
CD: Zak Mroueh
AD: Marketa Krivy
copywriter: Troy McClure
interactive designer: Jason Hatcher
designer: Grant Cleland
account supervisor: Sandra Stinchcombe
studio: Mike Thoang