Tag Archives: advertising

Was Dating Better In The 1800s?

Ami AngelowiczJune 23, 2009 //

If you are single and out in the dating trenches, then you know how absurd and post-modern the whole fiasco has become with the invention of the internet. Wanna find love? Head to Match.com. Wanna tell that special someone how you feel? Send them a Gchat. When I go out with a new guy, I find myself asking ridiculous questions like, “How’s our email chemistry?” or “Can I date him if he doesn’t text?” I barely know how to react anymore when a dude calls me on the phone, so I seriously think my head might explode if I ever received a hand-written letter. I was totally born in the wrong century. I want a long courtship complete with calligraphied love notes, white gloves, red roses, and a carriage ride…you know, Jane Austen style. I know, I’ll keep dreaming. This is why I’m kind of obsessed with a new blog, Advertising for Love, started by Rutgers student Pam Epstein, while working on a dissertation about the transformation of love and marriage in nineteenth century America. Pam found a bunch of personal ads from that time period and was so charmed by them that she felt the need to share. Thank you, Pam. Now I can really see if dating was better in the 1800s. Here are some of my favorite selections. [Advertising for Love] Keep reading »

Marc Jacobs Dangles Model From Window, But Why?

Lily QJune 19, 2009 //

Marc Jacobs’ new ad campaign is a bit mystifying. Why, we’d like to know, is model Natasa Vojnovik hanging by her ankles from a window? We’re all for death-defying stunts, but this one doesn’t seem to have much of a purpose. You can’t see the clothes, you can’t see her face, and I’m not entirely sure that “clothing you’ll look good while being dangled from your Park Avenue window by mobsters” is much of a selling point. Click to see the full ad after the jump… Keep reading »

Bud Light Tastes Like Crap But This Ad Is Brilliant

Nikki DowlingJune 11, 2009 //

Most beer ads are crammed full of super skinny chicks with bigs boobs. So we love this Bud Light commercial, which invites us to laugh at a dude getting totally humiliated as he tries to buy a copy of Tongue & Cheeks only to have the cashier yell across the store, “This guy wants porno.” Then his prom date who he hasn’t seen since high school walks in? It sadly never aired on TV (uh, there is a vibrator in it), but we have it here for your viewing pleasure. Keep reading »

“Tart Cards” Show How Sex Sells

Leonora EpsteinJune 10, 2009 //

Sex may sell, but how does one sell sex? Since the ’80s, prostitutes in London have been using “tart cards” to advertise their services. Tart Cards, a new graphic (in both meanings of the word) book, takes a look at how the art form has evolved from discreet illustrated pocket papers with text like “Charming Italian Model”, to the explicit pornographic photos posted in red telephone booths. Showcasing over 350 cards, the tome may shed some serious academic light on the history of a subculture, but it’s better as an amusing coffee table book, especially for the additional glossary of coded prostitute language. [$24.95 at Amazon.com]
Keep reading »

Sexism In Advertising: Axe Thinks A Real Man Is Into Banging Relatives

Amelia McDonell-ParryJune 4, 2009 //

Oh Axe, will your sexist ads know no bounds? This time around, the male product line is shilling its tire-shaped “Detailer Shower Tool” (that’s the manly name for a loofah, FYI) by implying the user is washing off the perfume scene left by a chick (on his ear) and her mother (on his knees). Because he was doin’ them at the same time, get it?! As Context.org asks, have threesomes become so commonplace that companies like Axe need to take it up a notch by titillating their audience with mother-daughter sex? Keep reading »

Five More Reasons We Still Need Feminism

Jessica WakemanJune 4, 2009 //

Sirens siren Heather Wood Rudulph has written a piece for Huffington Post about five reasons we still need feminism, including the recent murder of abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller, and the propensity of pop culture to make women look like marriage-crazy loons.

Her five reasons are just dandy, but why limit ourselves to only five? It was depressingly easy to think of five more reasons we need more of the F-word. Keep reading »

For Jezebel, Sexism In Advertising Is OK — As Long As They’re The Ones Running The Ads

Susannah BreslinMay 18, 2009 //

Historically, if that’s a word that can be used in relationship to blogging, Gawker Media ladyblog Jezebel has dedicated much its blog’s space to pointing out sexism in advertising — or what they deem “badvertising.” So, if the Jezebels are the self-proclaimed policewomen of what they perceive to be rampant advertising industry misogyny, what’s up with today’s ad campaign? Brought to you by the makers of Belvedere booze, the ads blanket the site from sidebar to marquee to mid-page. What’s the campaign’s theme? Masturbation! Or a liquor-and-sex-laden play on “maceration,” anyway. The copy: “maceration should never be rushed,” “maceration is all about technique,” “maceration is perfectly natural.” The ads feature a rotating red raspberry that’s decidedly clitoral paired with a throbbing “touch” message. The mid-page version features a woman — only her head is cut off, so you can’t see much of her but, well, her tits. The funny thing about Jezebel’s take on ads is that you can never quite tell what they’re going to declare misogynist. So far as I can tell, pretty much anything a) sexual and b) targeting women is TOTALLY MISOGYNIST and COMPLETELY SEXIST. Not quite sure how that works, but I guess it’s different when they’re taking the advertiser’s money. Then, bring on the decapitated women and rotating clitoris, by all means. After the jump, check out the decapitated lady paired with a post pointing to purportedly sexist marketing. Keep reading »

Get Happy With Coke Creatures

Susannah BreslinMay 7, 2009 //

It’s an ad, but that doesn’t make it any less appallingly adorable. Check out this awesomely happy-happy-joy-joy Coca-Cola summer ad that’s running in Europe. Starring a freaky dude on top of a hill who plays a magical organ, a cast of furry beasts who warble and dance charmingly when injected with arcing streams of soda, and a bunch of freaky, gyrating hippies running around like it’s the summer of ’68, and you’ve got advertising viral gold. They call them Coke Creatures. I call them beasts so cute I want to squeeze them until their heads pop off. Shot in New Zealand, the supercute spot features the happy tunes of Scottish singer-songwriter Calvin Harris. Keep reading »

Is This Ad Misogynist?

Susannah BreslinMarch 11, 2009 //

The Museo Tamayo in Mexico City has created some shock-advertising that has left some viewers scratching their heads and some suggesting misogyny. In the ad, a woman stands in what one can assume is the museum, her finger on her chin as if contemplating a work of art hanging on the wall in front of her. In response to whatever it is she sees, her heart is exploding out of her chest in the shape of a gory fist. Shocking? You bet. Misogynist. I’m not so sure. Jossip seems to think the violent image is woman-hating: “Because nothing says modern art like a bloody fist violently ripping out of a woman’s chest.” Copyranter, on the other hand, just thinks it’s obnoxious. So, what do you think? To find out, check out the full graphic image after the jump. Keep reading »

Thank God You’re A Woman

Catherine StrawnJanuary 16, 2009 //

A friend emailed me some ads for Goldstar, an Israeli beer. The tagline for the campaign is “Thank God you’re a man.” After the jump, see the ads and why I’m thanking God I’m a woman. Keep reading »

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