Laura K. brought our attention to these ads with not-so-subliminal sexual content (via haha.nu). Some of them are so-not-so-subliminal that they may not be safe for work.
Ad for a film festival in Barcelona:
Thanks, Laura!
Also in subliminal and non-subliminal sex in advertising, see here and here.
5 Comments
Ugh gross!!!
I like the “Rive Nord undergarments” one; that’s actually funny, understated, and appropriate. (I mean, after all, it’s an underwear ad that doesn’t show a human model, for goodness’ sake. How tasteful and understated is that?)
I don’t even get the Harley-Davidson one underneath it. That’s supposed to be a what? The Fa one is a bit too subtle for me; saying it’s “non-subtle sex” seems to be reaching, at least compared to a bunch of the other specimens on display. I’m going to go with the axiom that “anything’s a phallic symbol if it’s longer than it’s wide” (sing it with me), but it just looks like a bottle of Fa tipped slightly at an angle; at least if I ever saw a penis that looked anything like that, I’d scream and run…
All of those look like the design folks ran out of idea and said, “I know let’s do a phallic or a vagina thing.”
That may have been edgy 30 years ago, now it is just stupid.
Whatever you may think of the topic, a number of them are still quite clever. Some of them do seem to have a related point, though - the text on the balloon one says “Stop the virus. Not the party”.
I am so in love with that film festival ad.
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[...] matter. But we also go one step further and turn it into a question of power and control. Both the subliminal and direct sexualization of advertising (this one has images that may not be work-safe) are just two of the many ways in which we instill the idea that sex equals status and sex equals [...]