ashley madison billboardIt's not like we can count on a site that capitalizes on infidelity to do the right thing, but that doesn't make it any less galling when they do something totally WRONG. AshleyMadison.com, the famous "cheating" website that allows people to seek affairs outside their marriage or relationship, is running new ads, featuring a size 32 woman who goes by the name Jacqueline and is the owner and model for BBW (Big, Beautiful Women) website JuicyJackie.com.

The first ad shows Jackie scantily clad and posing seductively with the tag line, "Did your wife SCARE you last night?" The second gives a slender seductress a green "check of approval," while Jackie gets a big red X, and the text reads: "We call it as we see it."

Talk about tasteless!

Making matters worse, after Jackie expressed her extreme discontent with her image being used to promote a.) cheating and b.) body shaming (she had absolutely no idea when her photo was sold to a third party that it'd be used in this way), Ashley Madison's CEO Noel Biderman claimed the ads were "the best thing that could've happened to this woman." INCREDIBLE!

Biderman -- who, given his own nasty case of male pattern baldness, probably should think twice about how superficial he can realistically be -- and his cronies involved in this ad campaign should be ashamed of themselves for putting this disgusting message out in the world. For citing a "fat wife" as an excuse for men to cheat and calling a woman who is overweight "scary." Like Jackie said in her Jezebel column, it's not like we don't already have our hands full with young people killing themselves over being shamed for who they are and how they look. But to compound it by basically asserting that anyone who doesn't fit a slender body ideal deserves to be cheated on -- physically and emotionally -- is BEYOND comprehension.

These ads aren't only an assault on women's insecurities and body image hang-ups, but they're messing with men psychologically too. For them, the takeaway from these crap ads is that they shouldn't even find an overweight wife attractive enough to have sex with, to stay faithful to. And that society's "skinny" standard of beauty is what fidelity should really be based on. Oh, and that it's okay to treat a woman like trash, as long as she doesn't fit into that "skinny" standard, which is so blatantly dehumanizing and sexist. (Like all husbands are perfectly fit -- HA!)

When it comes to how women are portrayed in media and advertising, I can tolerate a lot. There's so much out there that's just flat-out degrading, we women obviously have to pick our battles. But this ad campaign is beyond reprehensible. For all the emotional and mental damage they could possibly do and have likely already done, the ads must be banned.

How do you feel about these ads and the message they send about women, beauty, weight, and relationships?

 

Image via AshleyMadison.com