I have a confession to make.
I take guilty pleasure in watching America’s Next Top Model (ANTM).
Last night was the two hour premiere, and for the most part it delivered exactly what you’d expect from a show about modeling: lots of too-skinny girls, some cattyness, and the assertion that modeling is “more than being pretty”. That’s not what I find frustrating. What got me was the party bus they used to transport the models to their “home”. It was solid black with a large recyle logo on the back and the phrase “eco-friendly is fierce!” painted on it in green.
Now, I’m all for the statement. I think being eco-friendly is great. But what about ANTM is eco-friendly? Maybe it’s the house they’re living in, thoughI highly doubt that the pool is using fresh water or eco-friendly treatments to keep it clean, and if it is LEED certified I must have missed the announcement. What about the Cover Girl cosmetics they use on the show? And the Cover Girl contract that the winner gets? Cover Girl tests on animals (what will Elina the animal activist do if she wins?) and makes no efforts to use eco-friendly ingredients or reduce their packaging impact. That certainly is not eco-friendly.
I have yet to see them highlight an eco-friendly designer, or talk about the impact on global warming that all that jetting around has. Nothing. So why paint that message on the bus? It was clearly done specifically for the show (fierce is Tyra’s favorite word). Maybe the bus is electric or natural gas? If it is they haven’t mentioned it. I don’t know what they were thinking. Maybe that no one would notice? That we would accept the message without questioning the source?
I’d love to be wrong. I’d love to find out that the producers are doing all they can to reduce the impact of creating a show like ANTM, or that the models will be advocating for the elimination of animal testing, parabens and other toxic chemicals in cosmetics, and the use of organic cotton in fashion, but I just haven’t seen any evidence of that.
And that is NOT fierce.
