Svedka Ad: Sexy Female Robots

Larry H., from over at The Daily Mirror, sent these Svedka ads along. They have weird sexualized female robots in them.

I don't know what this even means:




I wonder if Tom Cruise knows about this one:



This fembot's boobs are rather drastically out of proportion to the rest of her body:

Thanks, Larry!

Male Bodies in Interior Design Magazine Ads

I thought these two images were interesting because they are using sexualized images of men in a magazine called Metropolitan Home. It struck me at first because it's pretty unusual to find sexualized male bodies used in ads targeting a general audience that might include straight men. Then I started thinking--maybe the fact that it's in an interior design magazine means advertisers assume the readership is mostly female or, if male, gay, so there is little fear of offending straight men with these types of ads.

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Bud Lite X-Ray Vision Ad

In this ad for Bud Lite, we see a reversal of the usual gender pattern--in this case, a woman has x-ray vision and uses it to imagine what men look like under their clothes. When a chubby man appears and she sees his body under his clothes, she's disgusted and looks away.



An interesting example of men's bodies under scrutiny.

Men Doing Housework Fantasy Calendar

This British calendar, found here, consists of photos of beefy men doing housework. And I thought I Love It When You Talk Clean to Me was just a joke.

Also note that it's another example of social activism through consumption--the company makes a donation to breast cancer research for every calendar sold.

More Urinals

I found this one here. Are those supposed to be nuns? If so...why?



This mural is from the Sofitel Hotel in New Zealand:



The photo was sent to me; you can find it here. I was initially a bit suspicious, but Snopes says it's true, so I decided to post it. I assume I don't really need to explain that they're making fun of both the idea that you're not supposed to look at anyone while using a urinal and men's fears that women really do care about penis size.

And I found more pictures of nun (or maybe the Virgin Mary?) urinals here.



I don't know what to make of them.

Thanks to Pitseleh S. for introducing me to even more urinal images to add to these!

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Weird Company American Bistro Ad: Intentional or Accidental?

A reader sent me an email about this image, found at Photoshop Disaster. I thought it was an interesting image, but I was also suspicious that it might be a hoax ad--I mean, could someone really fail to notice they'd photoshopped a white head onto a black body? It also occurred to me that maybe it wasn't a photoshopping mistake--maybe it was on purpose. Either way, if the image was real, that would be fascinating--the idea that though a black woman's body might be attractive enough to use in an ad, a black face wouldn't be.

But as I said, I wasn't sure about the image, so I went through the comments from the Photoshop Disaster post and discovered that the creator of the ad said it was nothing like the original and the difference in tones must be due to a crappy camera. He provided a link for the original:
Although not nearly as obvious as the original, her head and body still don't really match, but whatever.

But another commenter pointed out that the ad had been posted on LasVegasVegas.com and, though not as dark as the first one, was definitely darker than the original.

Another commenter, the one who took the photo of the ad and sent it in to Photoshop Disasters, added that the photo she took was exactly what the actual poster that was displayed around Vegas looked like--that the body was in fact that dark. Whether somewhere along the line it had been intentionally darked or there was a printing problem she couldn't say.

I'm not at all sure what's going on here--has the original image been manipulated to make the head/body contrast more obvious? If so, why? Or was it an accident, and in that case, why didn't anyone notice? What do you all think?

Thanks to Peter H. for pointing this image out!

Kids' Book on Cosmetic Surgery

This book, self-published by a cosmetic surgeon, is supposed to help kids understand the wonderful transformation their mothers are about to go through, with the help of Dr. Michael, the superhero-like surgeon.

Read more in this post at boingboing.

Thanks, Nick W., and Jason S., and Green Ink!

New Boobs, Half Price!

This ad reminds women that they need to get their bodies ready before Rehab--and no, not that kind of rehab; it's a big party being put on here in Vegas. Without new boobs, you simply won't be "ready"--i.e., attractive enough--for this event. This could be useful as a really extreme case of ads that try to make people feel inadequate and provide a solution in the form of a product or service.

And as far as I can tell, what you're supposed to be "ready" for is to be sexually available--she's pulling her bikini bottom down and has a seductive look on her face.

Also, notice the doctor is having a "buy one, get the second 1/2 off" special if you bring in a friend. So women should encourage each other to feel uncomfortable about their bodies.

From Las Vegas Weekly.

Obsession for Men AdBusters Spoof

From AdBusters.

Suicide by Butter

These images are from a fake PSA series created, as best as I can tell, by Brandon Knowlden. According to him,

It's no secret that the American culture is known for overindulgence. This
public service campaign dramatizes the effects of poor eating in a way we can
all understand.

It's interesting the way food and eating are linked to suicide and terrorism. Also, the two images with men make it clear they are fat, whereas from what we can see of the woman, there's no indication she's obese.

Thanks to Pitseleh S. for pointing these images out!

Fruit Is Hot

It seems the food-and-sex-themed images just won't stop coming! In these astroglide ads, women (and men?) are nothing but a slick, tasty slit and hole (found here):


And Andrew sent these Puma ads (found here) (look closely):


Also in sexualized food: mustard and ketchup are sexy, do you desire white meat?, hot dog!, and a whole slew of examples.

Weird Tampon Ad from Australia

Here's the website.

Might be good for a discussion of hygiene and women's bodies or the history of feminine hygiene products and the way we think about menstruation.

Thanks, Patrick C.!

Drink Milk, Be Thin

The text:

Drink it in. Pop star? Not exactly. Milk is more my move. Some studies suggest that teens who choose milk tend to be leaner and the protein helps build muscle. So, shut up and drink. Body by milk.

This ad campaign includes a teen-oriented website with pictures of "milk mustache celebrities" and a feature where you can "make your own ad."

MIssissippi Law Would Ban Obese People from Eating at Restaurants

Click below to download the text of Mississippi House Bill 282, which would prohibit restaurants from serving individuals defined as obese by the State Department of Health guidelines.

DOWNLOAD FILE

A summary with a link to the complete text is also available here. MHB 282 is currently before the State Legislature. The author admits it is unlikely to pass but that he is bringing attention to the issue of obesity.

This could be useful for a discussion of our views of fat people, how it is ok to ridicule or openly stigmatize fat people in a way that is not acceptable for other social characteristics, and the way fat has been turned into a sign of a weak character (i.e., a fat person just doesn't, or won't, have the self-control to stop eating).

Thanks for the tip, Kelly V.!

Advertising during war: Girls in slacks hail tampax

While tampons have been around since the 19th century (see the Museum of Menstruation for more history), they really took off in the U.S. in the 1940s. One of the reasons for this was a targeted campaign by Tampax that took advantage of women's new labor participation during WWII. These newspaper ads from that time period show the ways tampons were marketed to women who were not only working, but wearing pants on the job.

These ads would make for a great class discussion on gender and the homefront during war (not to mention a discussion of women's work and bodies)-- particularly on how gender relations and practices can change (temporarily or permanently) during wartime.


I found these at the amazing database of old ads that Gwen posted about. Thanks again for the link Martin W.!

The Male Gaze Does Not Allow For Boy Nipples UPDATE

The men in this Wrestlemania billboard, if you look closely, have no nipples. They were photoshopped out supposedly because of a law in Florida that prohibits the display of nipples.* Since men's nipples are not sexualized in the same way that women's are, the authors of the law were likely thinking of women's bodies as they penned this ban. It may illustrate that it is women's bodies that we think of when we think of bodies on display because of the adoption (by men and women alike in this culture) of a (heteronormative) male gaze.



Image and info found here via copyranter.

* UPDATE: The interesting follow-up to the story (and I just realized a commenter caught this too) is that it turns out the mayor was wrong: his city actually doesn't have a law against displaying nipples. It is unclear if he knew this at the time (i.e., was lying) or really thought there was. And apparently some posters in town DO have nipples.

What does this additional information add to an interpretation of this image?

Commentary on Lebron James/Gisele Bundchen Vogue Cover

Here is a link to an MSNBC segment on the Lebron James/Gisele Bundchen Vogue cover. Thanks, Carmela Z.!

Sexualization Of Girls: A Trifecta

10-Year-Old Girl Models Bikini

As reported in The Daily Mail, this 10-year-old girl worked the catwalk among adult models. Said the fashion designer of her swimsuit line:

"I think the women who like my stuff... exude sexuality."

Trainer Pole For A Stripper-In-Training

This play stripper pole was being sold in the toys and games section of British store Tesco. Notice the girlish font and language (peekaboo) and the cartoon figure. It was removed after complaints. It is still for sale, but not in the toys/games section, and is marketed as an adult novelty item.



Found over at Feministing.

Lower Back Temporary Tattoos

Not old enough to get a tattoo, your little girl can still get her very own "tramp stamp" (as they are called). This Toys 'R Us vending machine is stocked with temporary tattoos for the lower back.



Thanks to Heather O. for the link.

Also in sexualizing little girls: sexualizing infants, horribly misguided anti-statutory rape PSAs, and a disgusting T.

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Literally Ride a (Fake) Woman

This is called the Bitchcruiser:


You can find a lot more pictures of it here. There's one for sale on ebay.

Thanks to Laura L., who found it on feministing.com (they got it here).

Athletes and Models

This is a cover of Vogue featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen. Notice the postures: LeBron as the hulking, angry black man, and Gisele as arm candy. Apparently this issue has a whole section on "the World's Top Models and Star Athletes." Hmmm, I wonder what the gender breakdown is?

Thanks to Carmela Z. for sending this image along!