For years the adage “sex sells” was bandied around ad agencies by men in expensive suits who drank martinis at lunch time. It would be lovely to think we have moved into an era where if sex is selling your product it’s at least vaguely related, and that the shameless objectification of women has made way for healthier attitudes toward women’s equality.
A New Zealand men’s clothing company, I Love Ugly, launched a campaign for its new jewelry collection which depicts clothed men laying their bejewelled hands all over faceless, naked women’s bodies reports Huffington Post.
Is the campaign eye catching? Definitely? Is it clever or classy? Definitely not.
The world of advertising gives great scope to create intelligent campaigns to catch the eye of your target market, and hopefully excite their consumer hunger but blatant gropes for buyers attention not only alienates a large portion of shopping market but makes you look like you hired an antiquated agency with no idea this lazy re-hashing of overt sexism is not only frowned upon in society, but instils negative messages to the very people they’re selling to.
Although the entire campaign can be seen at art and fashion website HighSnobiety, only one image was shared on the I Love Ugly Facebook page and it inspired a barrage of comments both from disgusted females and men who began calling said females “whining feminazis” which really raises the question if I Love Ugly were pandering to a demographic of misogynistic, knuckle-duster wearing Neanderthals, or is this just a polarising campaign designed to create hype and buzz?
Twitter backlash
They seem to have hit both marks with some accuracy according to Rae Duff, the president for the national Council of Women for New Zealand who said she was “disappointed” by the I Love Ugly campaign.
“The images use women’s bodies as mere props and promote unequal power dynamics,” Duff said. “It reflects how too often women in our society are seen as merely sexual objects and this feeds into our culture of abuse and violence against women. As a brand that targets young men, they should be doing more to promote healthy attitudes.”
The brand themselves didn’t appear phased at all by the attention who tweeted –
“Mixed reviews about our latest ring campaign. Some love it, some hate it. If you’re nervous about something. You’re onto something good” on Tuesday, although the tweet has since been removed and a counter campaign has popped up.
The new campaign depicts a clothed woman touching a naked black man’s body which merely prompted the question from Facebook commentator Michael Stevens–
“You really don’t get it, do you?”
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