(Via John Barr’s Blog.)
Today, in the “blatant objectification of women to sell crap” category, we have this J.C. Penney commercial, sent in by Rachel O. The ad features ESPN journalist Kenny Mayne assuring men that if they’ll just look at the boring ad for Van Heusen shirts, they’ll also be rewarded with actress Phoebe Cates in a bikini, so “everybody wins”:
I’m not sure that quite everybody wins here. No, not quite everybody.
Comments 21
MissDisco — September 13, 2011
I'm a hetero woman and I'd rather look at Phoebe Cates than those shirts. (Phoebe Cates? What a random choice)
oddboyout — September 13, 2011
Really JC Penny? This? So soon after that "Self Esteem" t-shirt debacle?
Anonymous — September 13, 2011
Everybody* wins!
*For certain values of everybody.
Sort of reminds me of "Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others."
Cameo — September 13, 2011
So, reverting to blatant objectification sells? Hm.
Kat — September 13, 2011
So no rebranding of Van Heusen since the 1950s, I see.
Kat — September 13, 2011
Last but not least: What if the men watching are a) gay or b) feminists opposed to sexual objectification of women or c) both?
Will — September 13, 2011
Hm... I think I'll send the super sexist ads by VanHeusen from way back when to SocImages
Anonymous — September 13, 2011
Van Heusen, if you look at these shirts we tailored to these models, we hope you will buy our shirts which won't fit you well at all and will end up looking like shit.
NiceLady — September 13, 2011
Nope, I'm pretty sure everybody wins, actress gets a big fat paycheck, some guy gets a shirt.
Leslee Beldotti — September 13, 2011
Interesting that they chose a clip from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - a movie that was released in 1982.
I guess their target market is specifically hetero men over the age of 40 who might recognize that actress?
Not only is that offensive, it's weirdly limited.
MJS — September 13, 2011
There was another version of that ad a few month ago where they put a Mike Tyson fight in its entirety (it was a 30 second 1st round knockout) in that other box. The punchline was something like "where everybody wins, except Frazier."
Shirt Enthusiast — September 13, 2011
Y'know, J.C. Penny, you wouldn't have to "trick" people into watching your ads if you made the pitch for the actual product /not utterly boring/.
Mak — September 14, 2011
...wouldn't having the actress on a splitscreen make people *less* likely to look at the clothes, because they were busy ogling her? This ad was a terrible idea.