Artists from 12 Countries Re-Imagined the Most Controversial American Ads

Provocative advertising sells for a reason

Sex sells, as marketing departments know, and for many companies that value takes precedence over body positivity. So as retailers rake in the big bucks, consumers are left to grapple with hypersexual depictions of women and completely unrealistic beauty standards. (But these empowering swimsuit pictures prove there is no one perfect body.)

There’s also an increasing demand for the models we see online, on billboards, on TV screens, and in glossy magazines to represent all types of women—women from different countries, with different skin colors, body shapes, personal style, and messages. What might that look like? The team at U.K.-based health and beauty retailer Superdrug Online Doctor decided to find out, asking female artists from 12 different countries—representing four continents, including Asia, Europe, North America, and South America—to re-illustrate three of the most controversial, provocative ads from Protein World, American Apparel, and Carl’s Jr., campaigns.

As the results show, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to beauty or body image. These inspiring, empowering, and completely refreshing representations of what real women look like are exactly what we may soon see in more advertising campaigns.

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