For my ad-bust, I chose to critique an advertisement for a DJ mixing software called Deckadance made by Image Line Software. Not only can you find this advertisement in a magazine geared towards computer enthusiasts, who are mostly male, you can also download the ad from deckadance.com and make it a background for your computer! Not surprisingly, this ad receieved many complaints to which Image Line’s Managing Director of Image Line Software Jean-Marie Cannie replied “With all respect but the girls are an eye catcher (that obviously worked) for the screenshot and features that are below. If anyone feels offended, I’ll hereby apologize but we have limited budgets and as these ads cost a fortune … we want them to be seen.” Is it the girls or their bodies that are the eye catcher, Mr. Cannie? You can also find a way to make your ads more tasteful and still get the desired attention. A provocative ad that reconsiders gender roles in society would get a lot more positive attention than this stereotypical, airbrushed ad.
Other than the explicit sexuality exuded by these women, I also think it’s important that their faces are either seemingly in the distance (the blonde) or not even featured (the brunette). A direct gaze can function to question the viewer. However, these women are just featured as the sex objects of men, both displaying their most “valuable” assets: large breasts and behinds. The angle of this ad is also supports this idea as the ladder extends towards the viewer and invites them onto the scene. They are simply to be gazed at by the male body and given NO power to resist. These women are, as Jean Kilboure says, “barely there” both physically (little to no clothing) and metaphorically (passive, no agency).
What I am puzzled about concerning this ad is what do scantily clad women have to do with mixing software? Had the website name and software images been removed, I would have either thought this ad was for high heels or some sort of twisted male fantasy lesbian porn.
No comments:
Post a Comment