Season 9 of the reality television show “ [1]America’s Next Top Model” on The CW network has a new challenge for its contestants: “going green.”
“I’m pretty supportive of the environmental kick, and it really is important to be aware of what, like, keeps our earth good,” said contestant Mila, from Boston, Mass., in the second episode of the season entitled “The Models Go Green.”
One contestant read aloud the weekly mail from supermodel and talk show host Tyra Banks: “When a model is inexperienced, she is green. When a model is successful, she makes green. When a model is conscious, she goes green. Love, Tyra.”
The “conscious” show has mandated that the models will be living in a “green” house and traveling to photo shoots in a biodiesel limo bus dubbed “the green machine” by coach Jay Alexander.
Tiny isles are placed throughout the house with tips on how to help the environment. One card next to a bathtub said: “Limit your showers to 10 minutes to conserve water and save an average of 20 gallons of water.”
Six of the models then piled into the bathtub full of water with one model exclaiming, “We’re conserving water.”
Business and Media Institute Director Dan Gainor [2]pointed out back in June that the three broadcast TV networks cited “going green” more than 90 times and that there were more than 2,800 uses of the expression since April Fool’s Day in print media.
“Limiting choices – that’s exactly what the green agenda does, whether by government mandate or not,” Gainor said.
And “Top Model’s” agenda didn’t stop with the fluffy green message. It also launched an anti-tobacco campaign, posing glamorous “before” shots and hideous “after” shots of the models with cigarettes in their hands.
The after shots included photos of models done up to look like they had been badly burned, lost their hair due to chemotherapy, had had a tracheotomy, coughed up blood as a result of lung cancer or produced a stillborn child.
Thirteen women are put through challenges on “America’s Next Top Model” to master everything from runway walking to photo shoots. Each week, one woman is eliminated by a panel of judges from the fashion industry until a winner is chosen who receives representation by Elite Model Management, a cover and six-page fashion spread in Seventeen magazine, and a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl.