Hegemonic Pretzel Ad Provokes Subversive Repurposing

One would think that advertisers would be done remixing American aristocrat Wallis Simpson’s highly problematic old saw, “You can never be too rich or too thin,” but then one would be mistaken.

The latest product to invoke this aspirational adage — or rather, half of it — is Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps. This strategy clearly did not sit well with one New York City resident, who decided to talk back to the ad and use it as a backdrop for a pointed discussion about how, in fact, it is possible to be too underweight and what the costs thereof can be. –KA

Update: Score one for the crusading NYC pretzeljammer — and the blogosphere — as Snack Factory has elected to swap out the offending ad for one that can’t be construed as “thinspiration.”

YouTube via Salon: