Joe > Average

Awesome post. I think Ashley Graham and the one-legged chick are hot , but agree about the overall standard being lower. Its really interesting that before, everything was pretty much decided for the consumer. Men like this right? Well, put some of that in there. Now, social media gives the general public more of a voice, but it results in a worse product. Lets face it, social media poses a big threat to the quality of commercial fashion. Being a commercial medium, its hard for them to ignore the social media train. Whereas I would rather see a Dioni Tabbers than an Alexi Ren, its hard for advertisers to look past the fact that its 38k followers vs. 12 million (with roughly the same number of posts in less time). Even a top model like Cintia Dicker has less than 200k with 2,000+ posts (by far more than both). For whatever reason, the traditional fashion models don't seem to be resonating as much with the social media audience. Strippers, wanna be fitness gurus, wanna be makeup gurus and amateur models have left them in the dust for the most part. At the end of the day, I guess fashion fans just want some things to be sacred. If you're not good enough to make the MLB, they aren't going to put you in just because you have a lot of followers. That's what fashion fans want SI to be. Just cut the politics and fill it up with the best looking models in the business. Looks unlikely to happen, but would be nice.

1 (Eliminated) - one of the best, but went against another one of the best. 2 3 5 8

USA vs. Italy Abby Brothers Band vs. Bianca "Tickle Me" Balti x3 I just heard her adorable voice for the first time. Cameron Russell x2 vs. B - Chiara Baschetti x1 Shaughnessy Brown x2 vs. C - Vittoria Ceretti x1 Russia vs. Canada 2 Stella Trapsh x2 vs. Jessica Stam x1 Anastasia Krivosheeva x3 Alena Podloznaya x3 USA vs. Brazil Marisa Miller x2 vs. Isabeli Fontana x1 1.5 Maggie Rawlins x3 USA vs. Australia Bryden Jenkins x3 Gemma Ward - on a team with Abbey. #defect (verb) 1.5

Russia vs. USA 1.5... Hannah Ferguson x3 Tanya Mityushina x2 vs. Caroline Kelley x1 #whitegirlbootyawards, Vanessa Lorenzo Award nominee The trophy looks like this...... but gold. [24] USA vs. USA [27] 1.5 same level Ellie Martin x3 Brittni Tucker x3 Lithuania vs. Russia Edita Vilkeviciute x2 vs. Irina Shayk x1 Anna Selezneva x3 Auguste Abeliunaite x3 Germany x9

That first pair was close.

1 3 5 7

That revelation is definitely true to your username. Its one of those things that seems obvious when pointed out, but I still would have missed it otherwise.

Who is NOT the target audience when putting together SI Swimsuit. 1. Hardcore Sports Fans Why? Because they are likely already subscribed and will automatically get an issue. I know some who even throw it away, which is how I learned that its part of the package anyway. 2. Hardcore Model Fans They already have them, so they don't care to target them. That's pretty much how mainstream marketing works. They consider the ones in the stands to be a done deal, so they go out for everyone else. So why Danielle Herrington? Well, having a black girl on the cover preemptively addresses the issue of whether there is enough color on the inside or not. This leaves you with three major candidates. Lais, Danielle and Ebonee. Lais is more "deserving" and maybe even Ebonee is. Danielle though is a more fluent English speaker than Lais, which factors in to the various speaking engagements and such. Ebonee by comparison is farther away from the type of black that is trending in American marketing at the moment. Danielle is closer to the "Blackish" type of black that American advertisers are obsessed with at the moment. It is important to look outside of the perspective of either a sports fan or modeling fan because they are NOT the target audience as they would have (in theory) bought it anyway. All that said, I think the cover was great at face value and in my adventures, I do see people who don't know models marveling at it. I think she's pretty and has the body of a super hero. I would have given it to Lais or Hannah myself for the record. Also for the record, Danielle Herrington just so happen to be my favorites. Her, Hannah, Daniela, Alyssa are probably my recent favorites.

I thought the competition was over. 1 4 5 by far. 8

Thanks for the comp! I hate that I missed the butt and bosom versions, but this one has to be even better because eyes are more unique.

USA vs. Brazil Marisa Miller x1 Alessandra Ambrosio x2 Olivia Brower 1.5 Germany vs. Australia Catherine McNeil x3 Lily Easton x3 Stephanie Claire Smith x3 USA vs. Moldova Jessica Strother x2 vs. Xenia Deli x1 1.5 1.5 Colombia vs. Italy Carla Ossa x1 vs. Bianca Balti x2 Daniela Lopez Osorio x3 Catalina Otalvaro x3

USA 21 USA vs. Israel 1.5 Neta "Full Metal" Alchimister Yael Shelbia x3 USA vs. Brazil 1.5... Daniela Freitas x3 Brooke Perry x3 Russia vs. Brazil Valentina Zeliaeva Bruna Lirio x3 Marina Nery x3

I really like that the top ten has so many different countries.

Amazing job on your first comp Pinks! I missed the nominations (and I can't complain given that it may have been the longest ever) but I didn't enjoy it any less. Given my general interest in marketing, I found the mass appeal category to be especially interesting. I don't know about predictions. I would have nominated Danielle Herrington and Ashley Graham, so Dasha, Simone V., Alyssa Miller, Dioni, Sara S, Noor and Daniela Lopez are my unofficial team.

Netherlands Australia USA vs. Australia Anna Christine Speckhart Gemma Ward 1.5 Lithuania vs. Denmark Edita Vilkeviciute x2 vs. Nina Agdal x1 Vanessa Moe x3 Emma Stern x3

Gemma Ward, Elle McPhereson, Shanina Shaik, Jessica Gomez and Sarah Stephens are honestly the only Australian models I know of. Well, Gemma is why I got into fashion, so...yeah... Beauty: Shanina Shaik Body: Shanina Shaik Boobs: Gigi Midgley Butt: Olivia Mathers Legs: Bridget Malcolm Sexiness: Jessica Hart (I thought she was American for some reason.)

Russia vs. Netherlands Robin Holzken x3 Anastasiya Scheglova (She is cute, but that second pic absolutely terrifies me. Looks like a life-size doll. This would be awesome of course if it were the editorial theme mind you.) Lara Stone x3 1.5 Brazil x9 USA vs. Australia Emily Ratajkowski x3 Jasmine Tookes x2 vs. Sarah Stephens x1 dem boobs ...Australian Dita . Natalie Morris x3 Sweden vs. Argentina Camila Morrone x3 Zoi Mantzakanis x2 vs. Carolina Sanchez x1 1.5

Taylor Hill Beauty 9.5 Body 7 Sexiness 6 she can pull it off, but its not her natural vibe. MA 9 SIB 4 Vita Sidorkina Beauty 7 Body 6.5 Sexiness 10 MA 9 somewhat of an elephant in the room for me is that some countries have to have more x-factor qualities to have mass appeal than others. For Americans, the laid back girl next door image is enough (Taylor Hill) whereas Russians tend to need larger than life charisma (Irina Sheik) to cross over. Also, if you are not fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or French, you will need more intangibles to have as much mass appeal as such a person with and your same level of looks. SIB 10 She makes every shot count. The Wevers Twins Awwwwww.... Beauty 5 Body 5.1 Sexiness 1.1 MA 8 SIB 1.1 Yara Khmidan Beauty 8 Body 7 Sexiness 7 MA 6 SIB 7 Yulia Rose Beauty 10 Body 4.5 Sexiness 9 MA 7 SIB 5

MODEL 1 - Color: 8 - Shape: 6 - Overall: 6 MODEL 2 - Color: 7 - Shape: 8 - Overall: 8 MODEL 3 - Color: 7 - Shape: 10 - Overall: 10 MODEL 4 - Color: 8 - Shape: 10 - Overall: 10 overrated MODEL 5 - Color: 7 - Shape: 9 - Overall: 9

Lindsey Vonn Beauty 5.1 - definitely above average/pretty for an elite female athlete. Body - 5.1 Sexiness - 5.5 MA - 10 Olympic hero with countless commercials and endorsements. I can't argue with that one. SIB - 1.1 Lorena Rae Beauty 8 Body 7 Sexiness 8 MA 6 SIB 7 Noor Schauten Beauty 10 Body 8 Sexiness 6 not much intangible. MA 6 SIB 8 Sarah Stephens Beauty 7 Body 8 Sexiness 10 MA 8 SIB 10 Tanya Mityushina Beauty 10 Body 5 Sexiness 10 not sure whether she knows how to be not sexy. MA 6 SIB 10

[28] USA vs. USA [30] Darla Baker x3 Gracie Lancaster x3 - I just realized that I don't recall seeing a non-blond in Guess. Haven't paid it much attention though. Chanel Celaya x3 Ukraine vs. Poland Sandra Kubicka x1 Daria Khlystun x3 Olha Remez x2 vs. Anna Zaton x1