Seductive, Suggestive, Sleazy!!!

Published in Markathon,

Monthly Marketing Magazine of IIM Shillong

http://issuu.com/markathon/docs/markathon_september2013_issuu

Objectifying women and using their body as marketing instruments.

When was the last time you sae an advertisement catering to the men which did not have a sexy, desirable and available women as the prize, that is after you have bought the product. Right from the sleazy advertisements of AXE Deodorants, (and by extension all deodorants in general, but I will give them first mover advantage here) to the suggestive ads of BMW cars all rely upon the women, the ultimate prize, through the product. Are the advertisers simply utilizing the latent and unspoken of instinct that drives us to sell the product or do they take a step beyond the line?

    

Any advertisement tries to create a lasting impact on the mind of the viewers, and they find that attraction to opposite sex is one medium which allows for easy impact. Consider for instance the concept behind the AXE series of ads, which are one the highest viewed in India (on the internet apart from the runtime on television). While with their product, their ad might change they are fixed upon the concept: the end effect will be the “AXE effect” where the axe man becomes a prize for every woman. This single line concept has worked for them multiple times and in such a scenario why would not a company mint the gold mine?

In fact the advertising world has created stereotype of women in two categories. For a men’s product, a woman is a prize, who is impressed or drawn upon by the possession of the product by the man. In the women section again, especially in the Indian scenario the women is seen as a house maker, and the use of the product would entail her the appreciation of the family (or husband in the growing nuclear family) and fill her with a sense of fulfilment of her duty, or the product would enhance her beauty or other bodily, cosmetic part drawing the awe of friends and gaze of men. On paper this sounds harmless and it is. Men attracted to women is a reality of life, and true, we always try to impress the other sex, through actions or otherwise. But it is the excess that creeps into the system that creates fissures in the society.

Below are some of the ads run by famous companies:

This American Apparel ad was banned as being too suggestive.

The same fate was faced by this ad of Calvin Klein Jeans in Australia that boasted of being daring.

This advertisement in Dolce & Gabbana was retracted after the people complained that it glorified gang rape.

Almost 76% of women in India and one out of six women in America are victims of sexual assault. The stats are appallingly higher in many other countries. Yet advertisers often make light of sexual violence towards women. They disguise it as innuendo, humour or artistic expression and hope the shock factor will work promotional magic for their product. The marketers describe it as edgy fantasy scenarios and often point to some psychological results to their benefit. Many times the shock or the outrage factor works in their favour. As they say no publicity is bad publicity. In fact the controversy surrounding the products, spread like wildfire on the cyber space and the impact is created. All of a sudden the product is imprinted in everyone’s mind.

Look at this ad by McDonald’s. They fell so low that people were shocked. They used the rape intimation hotline tag of “You’re not alone” to promote the Big Mac.

In light of such advertisements the any logic falls apart and is shredded to pieces.

You begin to wonder if there is a line there at all? Or everything that catches our eyeballs is a strategy to associate some product with us?

The suggestion boiling down is that it is the perception of the brand that is the invisible and mutable line for them. So when Maruti SX4 is released with women lamenting that all men are gone is it the brand image of Maruti being the preferred choice of middle class that stops the advertisements short of what BMW did? Ford may never have approved the leaked JWT released ads of Ford Figo which shows scantily clad, tied women in the boot of the car, with the bunga-bunga Berlusconi flashing a V sign, but that the idea was floated and actually put on paper gives a glimpse of the world where the fame-lights have made them myopic to morals, and sometimes basic human sentiments.

And these glaring stories are the top of the line, there are so many more. A seductive woman in an ad that has no requirement of her whatsoever is where this all begins. And my accusations and questions are neither new nor undiscovered.

Many studies have revealed that women abuse in marketing practices negatively affects social values and her role in the society. Though the position of women have improved but their negative portrayal in way that degraded them continues. Content with sexual images exploiting the human body bring out the animal instinct in humans degrading the feminine role and insulting the social etiquette. Many also attribute adolescent or teen exposure to such sexually explicit and suggestive causes many defaults at the subconscious level resulting in increase in sexuality, objectification of women and violent behaviour.

Is there an end to the road? Yes, but certainly not objectively. No amount of regulation can define and proscribe suggestive, seductive and such ads. With the advent of internet it is of no use either, for what is forbidden can always be leaked in the cyberspace. The answer lies with us: the future managers. Defining ethics may take a lifetime but actions that improve human capacities are good or ethical and with this we can certainly determine our decisions.

Sexual arousal may have the instant impact, but there are other emotions and values that have deeper and longer impressions. They are not guilty pleasures, and you can look at your sister, mother, girlfriend without shame.