Is racy energy drink ad too sexy?
A woman’s group has objected to a racy energy drink ad featuring Montreal Canadiens player, Georges Laraque. In the commercial, Laraque is seen playing road hockey with a bunch of scantily clad women.
What seems to have angered some women here is the “in your face’” depiction of certain female body parts. The viewer is barely (pardon the pun) aware that a road hockey game is in progress, with lots of female flesh and tight clothing invading the camera’s eye.
The point of this commercial isn’t to trivialize female sexuality. You could argue that this ad satirizes the rampant sexuality in the media and throughout western culture. By focusing on female body parts, in slow motion, this ad invites viewers to have a closer look at what they’re exposed to everyday.
For decades, western culture has been exploiting male and female sexuality to promote TV shows, vacation destinations, cars, clothing, beer and household appliances. Every day, we see gratuitous images of sex on TV, in magazines, on billboards and on the Internet, and yet women’s groups don’t boycott TV stations or picket ad agencies.
Why this commercial? Why now? The reason this ad has attracted so much publicity is that it dares to point out the obvious – that sexuality is used to sell. It’s all around us, day and night. This energy drink commercial also features a high-profile athlete, and star athletes are easy targets these days.
Laraque has publicly apologized for his role in making this commercial and has agreed to donate his fee to charity. He claims he had no idea what the completed commercial would look like. Ah, he’s playing road hockey with gorgeous, half-naked women – what did he expect the commercial to look like?
The maker of the energy drink has defended the ad, claiming that none of the ingredients in the drink are prohibited in Canada. The company is marketing to a highly targeted demographic (adult males) that is attracted to images of female sexuality.
I’ve viewed this commercial and I think it’s hilarious. The exaggerated sexuality of the women road hockey players effectively grabs the viewer’s attention – especially adult male viewers. The purpose of any advertisement is to capture attention. And to that end, the ad is a success.
If you ban this energy drink ad, then you’ll have to ban half the beer and fashion ads on TV. You have to ban half the reality TV shows and many advertisements that adorn the pages of glossy magazines. You either condone sexuality in advertising or you don’t; you can’t have it both ways.
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