Today in class we watched a presentation by Jean Kilbourne called Killing Us Softly. All about naked girls, used and abused by boys, with no greater dream than flawless bones and perfect skin -- presented to the world in advertisements.
Admitted, some of those ads were crazy. I don't remember ever seeing an ad that showed pretty dead girls before, but it makes me wonder. Because apparently, such ideas do exist and somehow appeal to the general, needy public.
There's a constant theme of gender roles. Men are strong, overwhelmingly powerful, violent, far from sensitive. Women are soft, painfully thin, tender and sensual, head down, mouth shut. Both genders are only given "ideal" bodies.
Put the two together, and the only earth-shattering idea advertisers can come up with is sex. Apparently even when there aren't even people involved. (the tabasco sauce and the potato..?) Now that's thinking outside the box.
Come on, people. Put your clothes on, eat some cake, and actually show what you're trying to sell!
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That won't ever happen. "Sex sells." I can't remember where this quote came from but it's true. lol.
ReplyDeleteLike I said in my blog, if you're intelligent and objective, none of these advertisements will A. Make sense to you and B. have any affect on you what-so-ever.
Even if it won't ever happen like Cody said, I still agree that it's a good idea. It doesn't make sense to sell jeans if your model isn't even wearing pants.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I think that tabasco and potato one was a little far fetched. I didn't think they were having sex, but maybe that was just me being naive.