Monday, April 11, 2011

My fellow admen, this is why they hate us

Via Sociological Images

Yes, it's superficially kind of amusing on a frat boy level. And the woman is certainly appealing. But as Dr. Gwen Sharp at Sociological Images points out:

"I suppose someone could argue that the message that you shouldn’t 'care' whether your women/cars are 'used' rejects the sexual double standard, but the objectification and the implication that non-virgin women are 'used' undermine any apparent rejection of that double standard."

In layman's terms, "comparing a sexually active woman to a used car is pretty f'ing offensive".

The ad appeared in the London Free Press.

Not only is it offensive, it's a ripoff. Another example of the same concept that made the internet rounds three years ago is this BMW ad that claims to be for their Premium Selection Used Car program in Greece:

Doesn't she look a little... Nabokovesque?

Gwen thinks this creepy ad must be unpublished spec creative, but this blogger gives full credits and a publication date:

Advertising Agency: BBDO Athens, Greece
Creative Director: Theodossis Papanikolaou
Art Director: David Kaneen
Copywriter: Daphne Patrikiou
Published: June 2008
Source: adsoftheworld

Oddly, though, the Ads of The World link doesn't work. Hmmmm...

3 comments:

  1. The Globe and Mail found another ad with Tom Ford as the model.

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/what-the-used-car-ads-show/article1985699/?from=1985701

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, right?

    And I've seen that specific photo of him before, I just can't remember where.

    ReplyDelete