Tag Archives: weird ads

Ukraininan Women Will Steal Your Husbands, According To This Dutch Commercial

Jessica WakemanApril 27, 2012 //
Mail Order Bride
New Zealand radio station gave away Ukrainian mail order bride. Read More »
Topless Feminists
Topless Ukrainian feminists draw lots of attention to their causes. Read More »
Sexist Ads
Not all advertising campaigns are sexist and offensive. Read More »
ukrainian women commercial

Today in Awkward Diplomatic Kerfluffles: the entire country of Ukraine is pissed at the entire country of The Netherlands for airing a commercial that implies sexy, sexy Ukrainian women are a bunch of husband-stealing sexpots. The ad was made by a Dutch energy company called NLE and references the Euro 2012 soccer games, which will be hosted by the Ukraine. (On a side note, any other Americans find it utterly impossible to keep Europoeans and their various soccer tournaments straight?!) The ad shows a woman Googling the words “Ukrainian women” and coming up with images of super sexy hot Ukrainian ladies. She then immediately goes and purchases an at-home beer tap, presumably so her husband will stay on his couch and not leave her for some random blonde chick in the Ukraine during a soccer match. Ukraine is now pissy that the commercial will affect tourism during the Euro 2012 games. Keep reading »

“Sexist” Brazilian Gym Ad Fails To Capture Our Outrage

Jessica WakemanApril 27, 2012 //
sexist Vila Olimpica ad photo

I don’t fully understand why these ads  are “sexist” or “offensive,” as per the women’s health blog Blisstree. The Brazilian gym Vila Olimpica ads show big, muscular men standing behind women, their ripped arms doing things like opening jars and bottles of wine. But I didn’t read this as “the iddy-bitty-widdle-lady can’t open a jar of olives,” because the female model actually looks rather fit and toned herself. I read it more as a joke: the lady needs gorilla arms to open these relatively easy products, but those kind of muscles are more of a female body builder thing, so there’s a big dude standing behind her doing it.

It’s a obtuse, sure, but I’d say it’s visually clever. What do you think, Frisky readers? Maybe I’m losing my edge? [BlissTree]

Care For Some Breast Milk With Your Oreo Cookie? (NSFW)

Jessica WakemanApril 19, 2012 //

On the subject of breastfeeding in public, I’m the most hippie-dippy of the hippy-dippies. Whip those puppies out any place you want, mama!

But one place I’ll agree breastmilk does not belong is this South Korean Oreo cookie ad.  (See the full pic after the jump.) Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Extra-Large Condom Ad Zeroes In On Ladies Scared Of Big Penises

Jessica WakemanApril 17, 2012 //
Today's Lady News photo
  • Big penises have us running to lock ourselves in the bathroom, don’t they, ladies? That’s what the ad agency behind a (real?) ad for Prudence Extra-Large Condoms wants to think. Although the idea of the ad is clever — a long, wordy rant from a guy trying to be “persuasive” — the actual text is kind of rapey, especially the line about “the screams are part of the fragile lady role.” Sorry, bros, but your condom ad is not sexy. [Buzzfeed]
  • Are black women “thinspo” blogs — aka, “thin inspiration” blogs — on the rise? [Clutch Magazine]
  • Meet Katie Ricks, the first-ever openly lesbian minister to be ordained by the Presbyterian Church. [Pam's House Blend] Keep reading »

Actress From Rapey Belvedere Vodka Ad Files Lawsuit

Jessica WakemanApril 2, 2012 //
Rapey Ad
rapey belvedere ad photo
Belvedere vodka's new ad is pretty rapey. Read More »
Rape Jokes On Facebook
caveman photo
Joking about raping women is cool with Facebook. Read More »
Sexual Assault Joke
esquire tweet
Esquire magazine tweets a joke about sexual assault. Ha? Read More »
Sexist Ads
Not all advertising campaigns are sexist and offensive. Read More »
rapey belvedere ad photo

Two weeks ago, Belvedere Vodka tweeted an ad depicting a man pulling a surprised, open-mouthed woman down onto his lap. The headline read: “Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly.” Decent people got the skeevies and called the ad out as rapey. Belvedere quickly tweeted that they were sorry “if any of our fans were offended” — but not sorry for the actual creepy ad — and made a donation to the Rape And Incest National Network.

Now, Alicyn Packard, the actress who starred in a comedy sketch from which Belvedere appropriated her image, is suing its parent company Moet Hennesey. Packard’s lawsuit claims emotional distress from appearing in such a reviled ad and claims Belvedere did not have permission to use her image (misappropriation of likeness). The company allegedly ganked her image from a comedy video made by her company, Strickly Viral Productions. “To be affiliated with an ad that’s so offensive to so many has just been horrible,” she told KTLA. Keep reading »

Unattainable Womanhood, As Explained By This Old Bill Blass Perfume Ad

Jessica WakemanMarch 27, 2012 //
Sexist Ads
Not all advertising campaigns are sexist and offensive. Read More »
Retro Douche Ads
The history of douchey vag products. 9 Photos »
Stupid Period Ads
These menstrual product ads are dumb. Period. 9 Photos »
WTF Hair Removal Ads
waxing ad
Hair removal ads leave little to the imagination. 7 Photos »

She’s supposed to “get gorgeously dressed in 15 minutes flat,” but not worry about her hair getting wet in the rain. She’s supposed to love a good laugh, but can’t gossip. She’s a big eater, but doesn’t drink white wine. And on, and on, and on. According to this old ad for Bill Blass Perfume, finding your soul mate is just like ordering up a burger … only more obnoxiously specific. [The Hairpin]

Today’s Lady News: Belvedere Vodka’s Rapey New Ad

Jessica WakemanMarch 23, 2012 //
Sexist Ads
Not all advertising campaigns are sexist and offensive. Read More »
WTF Hair Removal Ads
waxing ad
Hair removal ads leave little to the imagination. 7 Photos »
Retro Douche Ads
The history of douchey vag products. 9 Photos »
Stupid Period Ads
These menstrual product ads are dumb. Period. 9 Photos »
rapey belvedere ad photo
  • Belvedere Vodka tweeted an ad recently where a man pulls an open-mouthed woman down onto his lap with the headline, “Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly.” The company tweeted later that they were sorry “if any of our fans were offended,” although not for the actual creepy ad. The ad appears to have since been pulled. [Jessica Valenti]
  • Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Corbett dismissed criticism of the state’s new forced ultrasound law for women seeking an abortion, compassionately stating, “You just have to close your eyes.” [Huffington Post]
  • PA state senator Larry Farnese has introduced a bill that would require men seeking Viagra to first undergo a prostate exam, a cardiac stress test, and sex therapy. [Nerve]
  • You know things are bad for women’s rights in America when a Republican Congressman is urging women to donate their money to Democrats, who he calls “people who speak out on our behalf.” [Daily Kos] Keep reading »

PETA Promises Veganism Will Make You “A Tantric Porn Star”

Jessica WakemanFebruary 15, 2012 //
PETA Porn Site
pam anderson for peta photo
PETA is launching a softcore porn site. Read More »
Brooke Hogan For Peta
Brooke Hogan got naked in a dog cage for PETA. Read More »
PETA's Anti T-Day Ad
PETA's anti-Thanksgiving ad is not very convincing. Read More »

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ ad campaigns are usually an 11 on the eyeroll scale, only a point behind Axe Body Spray. Their latest ad features a woman whose body is all covered up for once, but she’s wearing a neck brace because her little boyfriend from “Portlandia” “went vegan and knocked the bottom out of” her. And we get a solid eight seconds of the camera lingering on her derriere. 

While I don’t doubt that lying on your couch all day eating wings doesn’t make for good lovemaking, this PETA ad perhaps overstates the benefits of boning a vegan. Personally, every meat/dairy-abstaining dude I’ve ever boned was pale, sickly-looking and evangelical about getting me to eat raw cacao. Sexy? Not a chance. While I’m sure there are plenty of vegan/vegetarian dudes who are, heh, animals in the sack, methinks this body brace nonsense is just a tad wishful thinking. [YouTube via Yahoo]

A Scrotum Itch Commercial Worth Watching, Even For The Scrotum-Less

Jessica WakemanJanuary 24, 2012 //
Stupid Period Ads
These menstrual product ads are dumb. Period. 9 Photos »
Retro Douche Ads
The history of douchey vag products. 9 Photos »
WTF Hair Removal Ads
waxing ad
Hair removal ads leave little to the imagination. 7 Photos »

I have no business watching a scrotum itch commercial, much less one in Japanese. But I don’t regret the minutes of my life I’ll never get back after watching this on repeat. There’s itching. There’s singing. There’s dancing (sort of). Why can’t Vagisil commercials be this funny? (I mean, outside of “Saturday Night Live.”) [Copyranter]

Beyoncé’s Album Promo Photos Are Unrecognizable

Rachel KrauseJanuary 18, 2012 //
Beyonce skin lightened ad

The rampant white-washing of models, actresses, and musicians of color is not a new concept. Freida Pinto, Rihanna, and Aishwarya Rai have all previously fallen victim to white-washing on magazine covers and in promotional images. Beyoncé’s skin was lightened dramatically in a 2008 cosmetics ad by L’Oreal, where she is the spokesperson. These incidents can be contributed to digital retouchers and the outlets that choose to release the images … but what about your own album cover and promo ads? The photos accompanying Beyoncé’s most recent release, 4, have stirred up controversy and it’s not a struggle to see why. Beyoncé is a fairly light-skinned black woman and she generally keeps her hair lightened to a shade that’s more caramel than chocolate. But these shots have her looking straight up like Lindsay Lohan with a subtle tan. If you showed me this image on its own and asked me who it was, Beyoncé would be my last guess.

Again, these light-skinned images are promotional ads for Béyonce’s own album, which leads me to believe that she absolutely approved the photos. [NYMag.com] 

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