Were Ad-Wizards Behind New Half-Calorie Lays Half-Baked?

With their newer brand of Baked! products, Lays, Flat Earth and Smartfood brands are trying to shift their consumer's image from the generic "unkempt and unfit girl who sits alone on Friday night, demolishing through a bag of junk food (while obviously listening to Celine Dion)” to a more health-conscious, socially acceptable woman.

The ads and webisodes aim to be like an animated Sex in the City, staring four aging, hip, stylish best friends attempting to survive trials of life, love and self-improvement.

You know… if Sex and the City didn’t include witty quips or career-driven characters and was written by Paris Hilton.

The episodes tackle hard-hitting questions like “OMG! Why is my Italian hair stylist abandoning me to return home?” “How will my man enjoy our vacation together if I’m not tan enough or properly groomed?” “Did my husband accidentally put my perfect jeans in the dryer- he must have because they don’t fit me anymore!” “Who wouldn’t want a 48 hour bug if you get to lose a whole four pounds?” and “What’s the best way to completely rearrange my life so that I’ll be thin enough to be loved?!”

Here’s just the introduction to Baked!’s series “Only in a woman’s world” (ugh, don't even get me started on the title):




Here's a more recent webisode:

And here's one more, just for kicks. This one shows the battle between mom's sound advice and that of the "disillusioned feminist":

With the consistent line “Crave more?” I can’t help, but scream “YES, SUBSTANCE!” Don't get me wrong, here at FMF,we promote healthy lifestyles, but not when weight is lost in brain matter. These commercials promote disgusting caricatures of "the modern woman" that only hurt us (and don't have a thing to do with snack food.)

To let Frito Lay company know that women aren't as shallow as the Red Sea post-Moses, you can use big-girl words to email them here.

As a wrap up, FMF President Eleanor Smeal, always tells us to follow the money to find a company's motivation. Isn't it odd that the cartoon's official website is affiliated with style and beauty website Glam.com? Wonder why?