Who let this Ad get into a magazine?
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 - 9:28am
Last night my wife was looking through some decorating magazines and she happened upon this little gem of an advertisement in Country Home.
When she showed me all I could do was laugh and keep saying, "what the hell? We're reading this wrong." But, no matter how many times we look at it, it looks exactly the same, and we burst out laughing for another 10 minutes.
Here you go:
I mean, are we just crazy? Or is this about the most obtusely racist ad you've ever seen?
Not to mention that on further scrutiny I realized that they have made the key text a statement, when it's pretty obviously being presented as a question.
words escape me...
Wonder if the model knew what campaign she was getting involved with?
Love thyself (just not in public)
Love thy neighbour (remember to ask first)
Certis wrote:
I don't know which jerk reaction I should leap to -- to rail against overt sexism of this ad, or to lament its blatant objectification of females?
Xbox Live tag Gorilla800lbs
They are just trying to take some of the heat off the i.Beat blaxx portable media player
"I'm up the spout!" - Jeremy "Nyles" Greenfield
Whatever site you are using to host the image is blocked here
Tobyus
Still searching for the perfect game...
Last edited by Tobyus on Sep 14, 2006 - 02:06 PM; edited 1,000,000 times in total
Photobucket. What site isn't blocked for you?
Letters to the Internet
Normally all of the big name sites are blocked, but today Photobucket seems to be the only one not working. ImageShack seems to be ok today, but normally it wouldn't be allowed either.
I take that back, Imageshack doesn't seem to work either. It would probably have to be hosted on a home page or something like that before I could see it.
This one seems to be ok:
http://www.picoodle.com/
Tobyus
Still searching for the perfect game...
Last edited by Tobyus on Sep 14, 2006 - 02:06 PM; edited 1,000,000 times in total
Ouch.... they should have used Michael Jackson...
[edit] Don't know why i'm being mean to MJ... i actually like most of his music...
A blog: by me!
EGGmen - A European gaming blog *Episode 3 now live*
I thought we were past stuff like that.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
That's insane. "Let's sell them on some 'Jungle Fever', that always works to move product". Criminy.
XBox Live: DSGamer GWJ | PSN: DSGamerGWJ
The i.Beat blaxx?
"They're distributing a special edition iBeat blaxx in a big white tin through Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It's called a Cool Clucks Can."
MaxShrek .. The reason you keep falling, is there is no bottom.
Horror Vacui
"Jungle fever" implies that all black people live in the jungle, so that's obviously racist. But recognizing the idea that the aesthetics of female beauty encompass more than a whiter shade of pale doesn't strike me as racist. There are differences in the way people look. Some women prefer tall men over short men. Some men like blondes instead of brown hair. The ad is something of a play on that. Linking high end furniture with the desire to bang good-looking women is a little out of the ordinary, but linking sex to objects for sale is a long tradition in advertising.
I don't see any negative statement in that ad about the woman. I'd hit it on the furniture, which is probably the connection they want me to make.
Pointy knees?
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
I agree that there is nothing wrong with putting hotties in advertisements. The explicit connection between the picture and "who says you can't lust after colors" is what's objectionable. The model's race is being called out as her most distinguishing characteristic.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
Along with her beauty. Why is that racist? We acknowledge the physical differences between hair color, eye color, born structure. It wouldn't make any sense to pretend that differences in skin color don't exist, or that if you do find dark skin more attractive than light skin you're somehow a racist. It's only when you start connecting external body characteristics with mental and moral judgments that you're in the territory of racism. "She has black skin, so she must like X" is a racist statement. "She has beautiful dark skin" is not.
Putting it into a different context: I'm a pale white dude, and they want to put me in an ad for sun tan lotion standing next to a freshly caught fish with the tagline, "Don't Get Caught at the Beach Looking Like a Fish's Belly." I don't see that as racism against white people. Me and the fish's belly just happen to share the same shade of color.
Forbidden! The ad implies that it was a previously forbidden characteristic. That's why it's so wild.
Letters to the Internet
Huh? Do you even know what "Jungle fever" means? It's a reference that goes back a ways, referring to desiring someone of color. Me pointing out that the ad is trying to crassly sell something using that. I'm very perplexed about how me pointing out the racism behind the ad makes me racist. Look up "Jungle Fever", read it in the context of my fake quote from imaginary ad executive and come back and call me racist again.
Chiggie covered the rest better than I.
XBox Live: DSGamer GWJ | PSN: DSGamerGWJ
The term obviously still has the connotation of "African" = jungle, though.
Oh, and "jungle fever" can also mean folks with dark skin doing "crazy" things. It was formerly also used to mean a severe form of malaria.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Yeah, it typically revers to white people wanting to have sex with black people. The negative stereotype associated with the term arises from the connection of the jungle to black people. I didn't mean to call you a racist, but the term itself one that I wouldn't use in today's world.
I think the racism gleaned from this ad is an unintended coincidental result of the state of the advertising industry. Look at your next McDonald's cup or just about any ad featuring a person, and chances are it's a multi-racial woman with poofy/frizzy hair. It is indeed a golden age for female mulattos in the advertising industry. There must have been some study that shows that said group identifies with the most people, while still avoiding the ire of your average crusty old "ex-" klansman. In the OP's ad, I believe she's intended to signify lust, with the product representing the "color." Then again, I could be wrong.
I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities
i don't think it's any more racist than Sony's Black and White PSP campaign from last year.
the poor grammar is more offensive to me, not because it's a mistake but because proofreaders should catch that stuff, just looks sloppy.
Stories of Yesterday
The Home Tree
I'm sure you're right about original intention, which is why I think this ad is so funny. It's some sort of "innocent racism." It looks like a spoof ad.
Letters to the Internet
Fixed for capitalization,
but I agree. I was willing to excuse the punctuation of the question/statement because they (incorrectly) think they're being more impactful this way. The first "sentence," however, should be stricken from the lists and beaten with rods.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
That's exactly what I thought when I read the ad too.
Doesn't help that they used the words "lust after" while depicting the woman at a bar. I guess you wouldn't want to have a long-term relationship with "colors." But maybe I'm reading too much into it. The ad just sucks.
XBL / Art / Blog (09/20) / Buy! (10/07)
What the f*ck? I don't see anything wrong with it.
edit: Uhh, I think this ad says more about you than about race
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
I see. Well, I have used that term twice in my life and both times in this thread. I thought it was the only thing that fit the ad.
XBox Live: DSGamer GWJ | PSN: DSGamerGWJ
Sure wish I could see what you all are talking about
Tobyus
Still searching for the perfect game...
Last edited by Tobyus on Sep 14, 2006 - 02:06 PM; edited 1,000,000 times in total
What's your email address, you big baby? PM me and I'll send it to you.
Letters to the Internet
There we go. Can't talk about race without being branded a racist.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f182/sfailey/Ad-CountryHomeMag.jpg
I didn't see it either. I had to quote Chiggie's post to find the link. I think it's because he used <> instead of [].
XBL / Art / Blog (09/20) / Buy! (10/07)
Racism, or colorism? I'm not entirely sure on that lady's race. Either way, I stand by my previous contention:
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com