Walking down the street the other day, I spotted this business. I walked by it and then immediately backed up to take a picture. 

After seeing a lot of ads lately (like this one) implying that women need to live smaller and suppress their appetites, I was struck by the way a woman in this one is “indulging” in an entire cake.

Talk about a contrast to this Crystal Light ad:

First off, where in the Columbus Circle shops can you go sit on the counter, grab a cake, and dig in? Is this meant to illustrate some luxurious loss of control? And why is her top all askew? Must be some cake. Are we tiptoe-ing around the lip of the Madonna/Whore dichotomy here?

Most importantly, perhaps, what’s wrong with an ad showing a woman enjoying a normal-sized piece of cake? I can understand how lesbians eating Bagel Thins together could be a bit much for mainstream America, but, like, cake! What is the big deal? It does not to be a matter of mini-cupcakes or entire pies!

I’m not saying we should be eating slices of cake on a daily basis, but a healthy diet has room for a legit dessert every now and then—and we can totally keep our clothes on for it.

Have you seen any ridiculous advertisements lately? Do you take your clothes off to eat cake?