I was looking at the cosmo covers and zeroed in on "Flatten Your Belly" and then the "Stop Stressing About What You Eat". Then I realized I'm too food-oriented. Sorry, going back to the topic.

I think it also has something to do with the culture. Not saying it doesn't happen. The sex-sells trend is gaining steam even in the more conservative countries. But it's consumer fueled, too. Like in my country, sure there are also (some) magazines that are like those pictured above but I can't recall watching a tv ad or poster that made eating subs/burgers look as if they're blowing someone. And ads (printed or otherwise) eating ice cream usually involved families and couples more than two barely dressed girls licking it like it's someone's private part. It's a marketing strategy. If there's no market for it, they won't sell their product (idea?) that way. There are attempts here but if adults caught you trying to emulate those new (shady/immoral?) trends, well it's not going to be pretty. So I'm guessing educating people also has a bearing. If a community isn't very tolerant of a certain trend, it's not bound to catch on. If it does manage to penetrate, the market isn't going to be big.

When I went to uni, it's very rare to see someone with make-up or wearing the barely there clothes stars sell to people. Not because everyone is confident or drop dead gorgeous but because their mindset is elsewhere. Like actually getting a degree. Because if their parents find out they're too busy eating up those types of trends, they'll probably get disowned. And so, those types above didn't sell much. Sadly, it's probably a changing thing now. Slow changes and mostly in only a number of places but yeah, happening anyway because people are letting happen.