you've come a long way, baby

Each year, the magazine Communication Arts publishes their Advertising Annual, one of the more prestigious compilations of what is supposed to be the outstanding advertising of the past year. Many thousands of ads are submitted, with a few hundred (those considered the "best" by each year's panel of judges) included in the magazine.

I used to look forward to these yearly issues, but lately it seems that not only has the general level of creativity of the work declined, but each year there are at least a few ads whose inclusion just makes me scratch my head in wonder.

Here are a couple from this year's annual.

First up is one of a series of ads for Skins She, apparently exercise apparel for women that is claimed to enhance the effect of one's exertion.

The first two sentences of the copy read:

Get the body every other woman would love. To spit on.

And then this one for fashion designer Nicola Finetti:

This year's panel of judges was made up of eight members. 

Three of them were women.