Sexist Magazine Ads

Posted in Sex & Sexism on April 11th, 2009 by Morgan Elizabeth

We are the image generation. Without even trying, we are exposed to thousands of images every day. There are pop-ups as we surf, billboards as we drive, TV spots as we relax, not to mention posters and fliers and neon signs.

But before we had the internet or television, or even cars, we had magazines. The first known publication was in 1734, London’s Gentleman’s Magazine. It was so well received, that dozens of copycat publications sprouted up within a few years. Today, there are over 10,000 magazines circulating in the U.S. alone. [1]

Ads push more than just products. They sell concepts, emotions, behaviors and lifestyles.

Many magazine ads can be simple, clear and relatively harmless. However, many are also dishonest, unhealthy, and manipulative. Here, we examine how modern ads spread some insidiously warped ideals, particularly regarding women.

DEFINED BY A NUMBER

Ranking women by their weight and wrinkles.

AD CAMPAIGN: Aprilla Motorcycles (Italy)

“The Arrecife Range: Now Several Sizes Smaller.”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Motorcycles

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Our product is better when it’s small, just like you.

Showing a male technician measuring a woman’s naked behind implies that women’s bodies are as closely inspected as motorcycle parts. We don’t see her face; the only part of importance is highlighted clearly in the center. While it may work to judge your machinery by parts and pieces, it’s never good to classify a human being’s identity to physical measurements.

AD CAMPAIGN: Fit Yogurt (Brazil)

“Forget about it. Men’s preferences will never change.”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Yogurt

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Be thin, or no man will want you.

Since when is waist size a woman’s only lovable quality? There are plenty of women who look as beautiful as these plus-sized models, and plenty of men who find them attractive. But thanks, Fit yogurt, for trying to make a profit by shaming your customers.

AD CAMPAIGN: Detour Protein Bars

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Protein bars

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Being plus-sized is unattractive.

The body language of the plus-sized model shows insecurity and weakness, as if she’s ashamed of her body and food choices. The athletic model, on the other hand, stands with pride and strength. Imagine if the positions were reversed. Who would seem empowered then?

But Detour has angled it to you this way in hopes of reaching a single goal: selling more Detour bars. Industries like these train people to judge themselves and others by how they look in a swimsuit. This devalues other traits like having a sense of humor, being intelligent, honest, loving or creative.

AD COMPANY: Equinox

AD CAMPAIGN: Equinox Fitness Center

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Membership to Equinox fitness center.

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Join Equinox! You might hate your husband, but at least your son’s friends will think you’re hot.

The strategic placement of a fairy-tale reference beside a hundred-candle birthday cake implies that older women should wish to be young again, and achieve that youth through sexual prowess of younger men. Feeling healthy and attractive is a great goal, but this ad implies that having a fit body is a woman’s only chance at living “happily ever after”.

GOLD DIGGERS

Taught to be bought.

AD CAMPAIGN: Rinat Levy Clothing

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Rinat Levy Clothing

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Women can be bought and paid for.

A man is worshipping this “sold” woman, though it’s unclear whether he is, in fact, her new owner. Likened to a product with a price tag, she commands some sort of power over him, while locked in a plexiglass tube. Rinat Levy parallels two contradictory messages here, neither of which are healthy.

AD CAMPAIGN: De Beers Diamonds

WHAT IT’S SELLING: De Beers Diamonds

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Control how she treats you by buying her diamonds!

Shaping an entire gender as predictably Pavlovian dogs, De Beers encourages you to buy your way into a better relationship. Or at least, De Beers used to encourage that, before they were banned from the U.S. in 1996, due to a variety of crimes and human rights violations. (See Article Here)

AD CAMPAIGN: Natan Jewelery

AD CAMPAIGN: Natan Jewelry

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Natan Jewelry

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Give her this ring, and her legs open right up!

Even more Pavlovian than the De Beer’s ad, Natan sets up the expectation for diamonds to demand sexual compensation. And we thought prostitution was illegal.

RELATED LINK: CurrentTV’s Sarah Haskins does her best impression of “jewelry face” with Target Women: Jewlery.

SEXY SEXINESS SELLING SEX FOR SEX SAKE

Because that’s all that matters, right?

TARGET: TEENS & TWEENS

AD CAMPAIGN: American Eagle Aerie

AD CAMPAIGN: Aerie (American Eagle)

WHAT IT’S SELLING: American Eagle Underwear

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Bras aren’t for support, they’re for getting attention!

The only way for a bra to “turn some heads” is if everyone can see it. So, this basically tells girls that it’s cute and “flirty” to show off your underwear. Of course, it doesn’t warn them about the dangers of harassment, molestation or date rape, and the common (albeit warped) misconception of “look how she was dressed, she was asking for it!” No one can plan or entirely prevent abuse, and the victims are never to blame, but they can definitely take precautions to minimize their chances of victimization. Of course, that message doesn’t really sell clothes, does it?

AD CAMPAIGN: American Apparel

WHAT IT’S SELLING: American Apparel clothes

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Objectifying yourself makes you powerful.

To broadcast a trendy teen model sitting spread-eagle in the backseat of a car is encouraging girls to not only wear this style, but to embody this attitude, as well.

AD CAMPAIGN: Lee Jeans (Australia)

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Lee clothes

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Everyone pays attention to a half-naked tease.

Her tube-socks, overalls, and curly red locks give the impression of a very young girl. Yet her tongue lingers suggestively along that popsicle, atop her barely-covered naked torso. This campaign, promoting Lee’s teen clothing line, has an uncomfortable kiddie-porn feeling. It’s no wonder girls start oozing sexuality before they’ve even hit puberty.

AD CAMPAIGN: Calvin Klein

WHAT IT’S SELLING: CK clothing

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Orgies are hot. You should try it.

Teens are so oversexed that subtlety doesn’t work anymore.

AD CAMPAIGN: Gossip Girl // The CW

WHAT IT’S SELLING: TV show

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Teen sex is glamorous, and a great way to get back at your parents, too!

Yes, these are real ads with real text. Gossip Girl’s target audience is under the age of 18, including many pre-teens barely approaching puberty. Impressionable kids worship shows like these, sometimes using them as a sole source of sex education.

Parents have swiftly reacted to these ads, which was presumably part of the plan. The campaign even uses a negative review from Parents Television Council as a badge of honor. But as one mom put it, “No pair of 16-year-olds has steamy sex. They have quick, awkward sex in semi-private unsexy locations,” and you would never know that based on these ads. A teacher chimed in, saying, “Last month we caught an 8th grader getting a blow job from a 7th grader. I wish that wasn’t a true story.” And it’s far more common than you’d care to know. [Source: MollyGood Gossip Girl Online Discussion]

TARGET: WOMEN

AD CAMPAIGN: Wonderbra

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Bras

WHAT IT’S SAYING: There are only two ways to get a man. If you can’t cook, you better be sexy.

We see this model hanging on, and hanging out, with an attitude of empowerment. But in reality, this ad perpetuates archaic gender stereotypes. And what’s worse, it promotes objectifying yourself as a way to feel strong and powerful.

SR SIDE NOTE:

If you want to have nice curves, or you love to cook, or it’s always been your dream to be a stay-at-home-mom, all of those things are perfectly good goals. We just oppose companies who say you should make those choices to please someone else. That is never healthy, fulfilling or productive.

AD CAMPAIGN: Imedeen Skincare

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Imedeen Skincare

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Technically, drink lots of water for healthy skin.

Way to keep it classy, Imedeen. Who is this appealing to? You do know your target demographic is women, right?

AD CAMPAIGN: Flirt Vodka (Russia)

“Keep The Memories”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Vodka

WHAT IT’S SAYING: It’s fun to get drunk and give strangers blow jobs.

This woman is smirking and the focal point is on her scarred knees – implying that flirtation and sexual favors give women a sense of empowerment. While intimacy is nothing to be ashamed of, empty promiscuity is rarely the route to self respect. Why can’t she be an executive, closing a multi-million-dollar business deal? We’d much rather keep those kind of memories.

AD CAMPAIGN: Scandinavian Design & Streetwear Exhibit

WHAT IT’S SELLING: CPH Scandinavian Design & Streetwear Exhibit

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Any man with taste finds skinny, lifeless dolls attractive.

Clever. This man’s sex partner is a life-sized doll, implicitly better than any woman who walks, talks, or doesn’t wear a size zero.

AD CAMPAIGN: Lee

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Lee Jeans

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Porn is so in this season.

Lee teeters on the border of ambiguity here, because hey – they could be cross-promoting Gatorade Frost. But the truth is, conjuring up images of porn stars in raunchy positions is just a cheap ploy to get our attention. How is this supposed to make us buy jeans?

AD CAMPAIGN: Dolce & Gabbana

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Dolce & Gabbana

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Gang rape is so in this season.

This ad was eventually pulled, and Dolce & Gabbana admitted they crossed the line.

AD CAMPAIGN: Exit (Belgian Shoe Company)

AD CAMPAIGN: Exit Shoes (Belgium)

“They’ll find the way out.”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Women’s Shoes

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Sex slavery is no big deal! If they only had the right shoes, they would’ve escaped by now.

Exit’s ads for Women’s Shoes feature girls in humiliating and powerless positions, but the alternate campaigns for Mens’ Shoes feature men as spies and action heroes. (See Mens Shoe Ad Here). Last we checked, you could still be creative in advertising without patronizing an entire gender.

TARGET: MEN

CAMPAIGN: Axe Shower Gel

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Shower gel

WHAT IT’S SAYING: This shower gel makes women do whatever you want.

Axe is notorious for branding women as a pack of wild dogs humping anything that smells nice. This ad shows a guy relaxing in a position of control, enjoying coffee and cigarettes while a girl gives him oral sex. The text brands this “the Axe effect”, implying that a liquid soap can give men complete sexual dominance over women. Please, do give us some credit.

AD CAMPAIGN: Che Magazine (Argentina)

“Let us keep dreaming of a better world.”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: A magazine

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Go ahead. She’s asking for it.

The camera is placed at such an angle that we have no choice but to look up her skirt. Which, in turn, will get shorter as men take her number. She has no face or identity, we know nothing of her goals or fears. Instead, she’s just a lump of flesh with apparently no standards, and “in a better world”, she’s willing to keep it that way.

AD CAMPAIGN: P&O Cruise Ships (Britain)

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Cruise vacation

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Go ahead. They’re asking for it.

Perpetuating the mentality mentioned in the previous ad, this implies bathing beauties are always wanting sex, whether or not they explicitly say so. The ad was quickly pulled, due to negative press.

AD CAMPAIGN: BMW Used Cars

AD CAMPAIGN: BMW

“You know you’re not the first.”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Used Cars

WHAT IT’S SAYING: Used women are like used cars.

Apparently, if you can’t get a brand new girl, make sure she’s still young with very little mileage. BMW’s target audience is middle-aged men, so why does this seductress look 16? Not only is it borderline-pedophiliac, but this ad shames all women who are sexually experienced by comparing them to used machines.

AD CAMPAIGN: Evan Williams Liquor

“Aged 7 Years: The longer you wait, the better it gets”

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Liquor

WHAT IT’S SAYING: A girl is like a bottle of scotch: let her mature a few years before you open her.

Does this mean men should start looking in schoolyards for future sex partners?

AD CAMPAIGN: Organ Donor Foundation

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Participation in the Organ Donor Foundation

Using disturbing innuendos to grab attention for a charity? It’s reminiscent of PETA and Rethink Breast Cancer. (See PETA: Humanizing Animals and Animalizing Humans and Save the Boobs, Etc.)

AD CAMPAIGN: Tom Ford Cologne

WHAT IT’S SELLING: Cologne

WHAT IT’S SAYING: This fragrance is for men.

A strategically placed cologne bottle forges an innuendo that’s impossible to miss. We’re sorry, we were under the impression that belonged to us. Our mistake.