Print ads aimed at crushing stereotypes about physical beauty are the theme of a competition held for young designers in Vietnam.

The designs send a haunting message about body shaming, the practice of making negative comments on a person's body shape or size.

The 16 best designs were voted on by Facebook users, ten of which will be selected by a board of judges for exhibition at a festival this weekend at the Ho Chi Minh City campus of the Foreign Trade University.

The contest, Creative Marcom Challenge, was part of the university’s series of events to provide students with insights into the field of marketing and communications.

The designs addressed both male and female body shaming, with the use of relatable and humorous symbols to criticize personal ridicule and make a statement of respecting differences and natural beauty.

Do Ky Minh Triet, 22, said his work depicts a young girl being shaped by the 90-60-90 standards of body measurement, a V-shaped face and the make-up styles of supermodels.

“My work criticizes media distortion of the so-called perfect beauty,” Triet said. “The media are promoting advertisements on lifestyles, beauty products and supplements to influence consumers based on unrealistic standards of beauty.”

“Don’t base your definition of beauty on media depiction,” Triet said. “The perfect beauty is a lie.”

Approaching body shaming from a man’s perspective, Do Quang Khanh, 21, designed a print ad featuring a banana, a common innuendo for the male genitals.

Khanh was inspired by the saying “handsome is as handsome does” to raise his point that the size of a man’s genitals should not define his masculinity or be the topic for humiliation, as it is his personality that counts.