Brent Bozell III
It's a topic of conversation that's become all too frequent among
parents and non-parents alike: What in the world is going on with these
disgusting new ads?
It was bad enough that parents have to ****eld their children from what
Hollywood calls entertainment. Now they have to be equally vigilant with
the messages and visuals put forward by the advertisers who sponsor that
filth.
Parents can become discouraged by the sheer intensity of the commercial
manipulation of ***. It's everywhere. Re****ter Matt Spector of
ABCNews.com recently underlined how the hyper***ualization of teenagers
in advertising is intensifying. A Greek print ad for previously owned
BMW autos features a clearly teenage-looking girl shot from her ****d
shoulders up, her blond hair splayed around her head across the page.
The ad's come-hither sentence: "You know you're not the first."
Ads for American Apparel underwear are so suggestive they seem like a
"homage to ****ography." That is no exaggeration. They've actually used
**** actresses in their print ads. Spector re****ts that in one ad, a
girl wearing only American Apparel underwear can be seen crawling
between a man's legs. In the next shot, the model is licking the crotch
of the man's underwear, glancing seductively at the camera.
Liz Perle, editor-in-chief of the group Common Sense Media, said
advertisers are selling more than a product. They are marketing a
complete ***ual lifestyle. "Kids are exposed at younger and younger ages
to more and more ***ually graphic material. When you show an ad that
showcases shortcuts to those things, you're not just selling underwear
or T-****rts, you're selling whole ways of being."
Perle is correct when she insists that hyper-***ual ads using teenage
models (or twentysomething models that pass for teenagers) creates a
template for what could be considered normal behavior for a teen, and
she insists that advertisers shouldn't be allowed to use teenage models
(or younger) to peddle that message: "I'd just say to the creators of
these ads, Put your 12-year-old girl or boy in front of them and see if
you repeat them' That should be the sanity check."
Spector also focused on the new print ads for the teen drama "Gossip
Girl" on the little-watched CW network. They drew attention by using the
disapproving words of TV critics to sell the show. One features a
teenage girl character with her eyes closed and her mouth open as a man
nuzzles her neck, with the Boston Herald's verdict: "Every Parent's
Nightmare."
Another ad features a topless girl in a pool passionately kissing a boy
with his back to the camera. The critical words came from the New York
Post: "A Nasty Piece of Work." Get this: Ad Week magazine revealed a new
trick on CW's part: The ad is racier than the show. In the actual scene
from the show, the girl is wearing a bikini. So network promoters have
(SET ITAL) fewer (END ITAL) scruples than the networks they're
promoting.
A third ad by the CW network marketing department promoting "Gossip
Girl" features two teenagers in bed, and it triggered this critique from
the Parents Television Council: "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate." This was
the ultimate spit in the face to parents. The message sent to their
children: You should watch this show upstairs in your room while your
nerdy parents aren't looking.
Marketing consultant Tina Wells took on this campaign in The Huffington
Post with an interesting twist. To what degree are the show promoters on
the CW network really just perpetuating their own kinky stereotypes of
teens, instead of reflecting the real attitudes of their target
audience? Advertisers see young people as nothing but ***-hungry bags of
hormones. "It's what they want kids to be, but I bet when they're
sitting in that room coming up with the show's concept, there isn't a
person under 20 anywhere in the vicinity."
Wells goes to the numbers. "Gossip Girl" has been hailed in the media as
a hot place where teens go to watch the pretty young things display the
latest fa****ons (at least before they take them off). But it's not true.
Wells suggests these smutty new CW ads are "an act of total,
irresponsible desperation," since the show "averaged 2.6 million viewers
per new episode, and only about 500,000 are teens, the show's supposed
target market." By comparison, MTV's "The Hills" blew "Gossip Girl" out
of the water in terms of popularity among teens, and it's a reality show
produced on a fraction of their budget. CW's problem? Their teen scenes
aren't seen as realistic.
In the final analysis, the irony of all this advertising is that it's
actually the opposite of boldness or daring to try and exploit *** to
sell goods. It's become the most hackneyed trick in a yellowed old book.
Those executives signing off on this garbage are little more than dirty
old men. And women.
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It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
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