Now it's no secret in Korea that body size and weight are big issues but when I saw an MV titled "Skinny Baby" hit youtube in the last week of December I thought Korean pop music had really hit a new low. Having watched the video and been bombarded with lines such as "Skinny Skinny Boys Boys, Skinny Skinny Girls Girls....Skinny Baby hot hot, you know I can't stop" by the end of the video my appetite was gone and I felt the inclination to go munch on a carrot.
The production can be somewhat excused by the fact that the song has actually been produced as a Cube artist collaboration to advertise for Korean clothing brand Skool Looks' new range, Skinny Baby. (Again, what a confidence inspiring name for a clothing brand - but we'll touch on that later) I will admit that while I'm not particularly fond of the song itself or the underlying message...it is incredibly addictive. A striking intro sequence, powerful beats and the good voices of B2ST and APink make a not bad song that will leave you striding down the street like a wannabe catwalk model...or was that just me?
I did find it slightly amusing that despite the fact that Skinny Baby is actually meant to be a uniform range...although our idols are seen strutting around sleek, stylish, monochrome attire in the music video. Apparently this is something to do with showing off the "unique sensibility of teenagers"...whatever that is supposed to mean. (Credit korea.com/blog)
At least in the advert itself, they are donning what I guess is supposed to be school uniform. I can only say, if I ever turned up at school in uniform looking like that (I'm talking about the girls' clothes here!) , I would probably be sent home to change. No lie. Could a school skirt get much shorter....probably not.
Check out the advert for yourself:, would you get away with it?
On a slightly wider scale, it's worth considering the underlying message of the song. Is Skinny Baby really an ideal name for a clothing range? While I've seen hundreds of people commenting "OMG B2ST are so fit" "OMG APink are soooo pretty!" has nobody (apart from me) actually stopped to think about the fact that this song is actually portraying a pretty negative message...whether it's aware of it or not. The wonderful entertainment industry combined with the media (I won't say Korean media because in this example, it is the same all around the world) have once again raised the bar for what young men and women should aspire to look like. For girls in particular, there are a number of alphabet inspired skinny body shapes to try and work towards (see below - can you tell the difference?!) and if that's not enough, it's not like you just have to dress in small sized clothes...now you even have a new "Skinny Baby" clothing range to dress your skinny body in. Sad times but here to stay.
For those who are interested~ the following advertisements show wonderfully photoshopped realistic photos illustrating the S and X lines~
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| The unachievable "X Line" exhibiting long legs and a very slim waist ...supposedly |
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| The infamous S-line referring to the shape of the body with ample breasts and a "good amount of junk in the trunk" (Thanks to Simon@Eat Your Kimchi for that one!) |
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| The notorious 2008 advertisement for Amore Pacific featuring Yoon Eun Hye ..well, that's her on the right anyway...I'm not quite sure who's body they stole in order to create the monstrosity of the X-line advert on the left but it's definitely not Yoon Eun Hye! |
Credits : (CF credit) b2utygirls04 youtube channel
(MV credit) APink's youtube channel
Photo Credits : Adverts / Body Lines : www.thegrandnarrative.com
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