Life
6 Sexists Ads For Products that Have Nothing To Do With Sex
Have you ever noticed how we are constantly bombarded by semi-naked women on a daily basis, yet somehow it's okay because they're just ads? Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either. I still don't understand why a woman in a bikini sells a burger since women in bikinis and burgers really have nothing to do with one another, but then again, I also don't understand a lot of things about marketing (like, why are Super Bowl ads released ahead of time?)
But apparently companies everywhere from Budweiser to BMW are convinced that sex will sell their products. And hey, maybe it does. The problem being that naked and half-naked women in advertisements are becoming a new norm, and it just further portrays the idea that women's bodies are things that can be consumed, not things we control as people.
But hey, they're just ads right? It's not like they're specially designed to seep into our subconscious, or like we see them all day long, or like that's been true since we were little girls developing our sense of self. Or anything.
In "honor" of all this nonsense, here are some examples of ads that use naked women for things that have nothing to do with sex or nakedness of any sort.
Image: Doritos
Skullcandy Headphones
Kate Upton became the Skullcandy spokesperson in 2012, but just from these ads it doesn’t seem like they were all that interested in her speaking so much as wearing their headphones and very little clothing at the same time. Because everyone knows that headphones that are not associated with scantily clad women will not be good headphones. But it’s okay. Skullcandy made some pink headphones for women, so it all works out right?
Image: Skullcandy/Freshness Mag
BMW
Everyone knows car commercials can be sleazy — they are an extension of the car salesman after all — but most at least picture a, you know, car. This ad for used BMWs ran in Greece and consists of nothing but a beautiful — and as far as we can tell naked — woman and the words, “You know you’re not the first. But do you really care?” ICK! I think I need a shower.
Image: BMW/aston-martin.com
Hudson Jeans
Call me old fashioned, but shouldn’t clothing be about putting clothes on people, not taking them off? So why is it that so many jeans ads involve topless women? This ad from Hudson jeans in summer of 2013 is only the tip of the iceberg here.
Image: Hudson Jeans/The Essentialist
Perfume
Okay, so I get that perfume can be sexy, but the number of naked women on perfume ads still doesn’t compute for me since these ads are, presumably, for women. So why the women in them can’t be wearing sexy clothes remains a mystery to me. As with jeans, this ad is not remotely alone.
Image: Chloé/brandsbook.com
Budweiser
As much as we love the Budweiser Super Bowl commercial this year, this ad from 2009 deserves anything but love. Because what does a woman who is naked except for a few beer caps have to do with how good a beer is? They couldn’t have found another way of making their product appealing? Like, say, puppies?
Image: Budweiser/adpressive.com
Cabana
I get that people think alcohol and sex go together, I do, but alcohol and rape also go together. So not only do ads like this one from Cabana objectify women, but they promote all kinds of rape culture myths. Again, things that seep into our brains.
Image: Cabana/tasteable.com
