Sorry for the poor image quality, my scanner is broken so I had to take a picture on my phone. It's a little difficult to make out what's going on by I'll try: On the left is a (tall) cup with lipstick marks near the base and on the right a woman in a neck brace; The ad being for a Belgian brand of "Extra Long" condoms (take a second...good.) It's a perplexing image that I think runs deeper than its punchline (and blatant sexism.) Because it ran mostly in Belgium it didn't seem to generate much controversy (in fact I can't even find an image of it on the web) -- but it was shortlisted for a Cannes Lion in 2005 (shortly before I came across it in an anthology of winners) and it is as strange now as it was then; I'm looking forward to unpacking it in my paper.
Well, if this ran in America... Oh, we are so prudish. And personally, I am enjoying the sterile, white background of the glass in contrast to the tacky, 70's-esque wallpaper? Oh, and the heroin chic girl in the neck brace.
ReplyDeleteUgh, this is just terrible. I mean, it's a good topic for unpacking, but it's so freaking sexist.
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