It’s 2021 and we are still banking on people’s imperfections for profit.

I may be a little behind than most as I only learned of this while scrolling through my Twitter feed earlier this week. Yet that doesn’t stop me from discussing the monstrosity that was Belo Medical Group’s latest ad for their #PandemicEffect campaign.

The original ad is no longer available on all digital platforms as of this writing. Belo Medical Group has also issued a subsequent apology, recognizing that their ad came off as “insensitive and upsetting”.

I’ll keep this short as many others have already expressed their views eloquently online. A Spot article (personally my favorite take) pointed out that body shaming has been a recurring advertising theme for decades. I do agree too that mass media is majorly responsible for society setting the high bar on physical appearances. Our beauty standards have become warped because some TV commercial or teledrama dictates us how we should look like to achieve success and happiness in life.

I have so many problems with this Belo ad. Firstly, it gives imperfection a bad name. Aren’t we allowed to accept our flaws and feel comfortable in the skin we are in? It is abhorrent that we still live in a world where thick eyebrows, backrolls, skin color, acne issues, and fish lips are unattractive. Many are struggling with low self-esteem issues today because their imperfections are being held against them.

Myself included.

I’ve been pressured to lose weight all my life. I’ve had people tell me that I’d be prettier if I shed some fat. Some people have even told me to cut down on my occasional eating binges. The truth is that I love food. I’m also big-boned, thus I’ll never look skinny regardless of how much weight I lose. Even with exercise and fad diets, I just lose a few but I still maintain that curvy body which I am proud of now.

There’s a reason why I refrain from telling others to go on a diet. It’s because I don’t want to force them into something they are. Rather let them be their happiest, healthiest selves. Your weight or any other physical attribute shouldn’t define who you are. Don’t let peer or mass media pressure make you believe that a dress size or whitening product will determine how far you’ll go in life or how you stack up against society. Period.

Furthermore, I hate how they made fun of the psychological issues triggered by the ongoing pandemic. Everyone is fighting their own battles. No person should be disgraced for feeling anxious, scared, defeated, and pessimistic about the world and the seemingly “new normal” many are still adjusting with. Let me remind you all that you are not alone and will never be in this battle we are trapped at the moment.

Keep marching on. Hope is the weapon that will keep you in this fight, and we are in this together.

To conclude, all I ask is no more body shaming or mental health shaming in media. Society has progressed past the need for mocking human flaws one more time.