Thursday, March 8, 2007 2:22 PM
Are provocative ads just an excuse for not having a good idea?
kmcarthur
In a Hard Sell ad review of a provocative ad for Diesel, Pam Fraser of TBWA wrote that fashion is different from advertising in other categories because "you don't really need a big idea. Most times you have nothing unique about your product, so you just have to get the consumer's attention in an interesting way."
That may explain why fashion ads often live on the edges of what society will tolerate. Think of the famous Beneton ad of a black woman breastfeeding a white baby, or Calvin Klein's use of sexualized, 15-year-old Brooke Shields.
The latest example comes in a Dolce and Gabanna ad (shown here) that appears to portray a gang rape, according to some observers. After controversy forced the clothing company to pull the ad in Spain, Italy's Advertising Self-Discipline Institute has now banned it there.
"Because of the passive and helpless position of the woman relative to the men around her, [the image evokes] the representation of abuse or the idea of violence towards her," the self-regulatory agency said.