An ad for a bar at the Monte Carlo casino in Las Vegas. I found it in Las Vegas Living.

I just found this ad for a bowling alley in Las Vegas Weekly.

NEW! Here’s another ad that uses the idea of “scoring” to refer to sex:

Notice it’s melon-flavored gum.

I found this in Rolling Stone.

Here we have buying bottled water–a product criticized for its environmental impacts–portrayed as a form of humanitarianism. Also, in smaller text the ad sneaks in a plug for a movie: “Ethos is a proud supporter of ‘Running the Sahara.’ In theaters this spring.” I presume Matt Damon stars in it. Why can’t celebrities just donate their own money instead of trying to get us to buy something expensive just so a tiny bit of it goes to a charity?

And in the tiniest print down at the bottom you learn that 5 cents from every purchase is donated to the Ethos Water Fund. The Impulsive Buy says Ethos costs $1.85 a bottle (I found that price listed elsewhere as well). Also, Ethos is owned by Starbucks.

You might want to pair this image with this, this, and this.

This is an ad for Allstate’s retirement programs; it appeared on the back cover page of The New Yorker. What struck me is that the ad is using the fact that women leave the workforce to care for children as a tactic to scare families into buying their product:

The average woman spends 11 years out of the workforce taking care of family. Leaving her without enough retirement money to take care of herself. Those 11 years are spent doing important work, caring for children or elderly parents. But then can also hurt her ability to retire. Fact is, women are still earning less than men do, and they live longer…Women care for America. It’s time we showed that America cares about their future.

Notice the picture: it’s a woman with a small child and a stroller, all about to fall off into the large crevice in the $20 bill.

I’m really not sure quite what to make of this or what my take on it is.

I took a picture of this bikini at a children’s clothing store in L.A. It is size 12-18 months:

NEW! (May ’10): Reagan B., Tara C., and Ma. Elí C.L. told us about a children’s bikini for sale at the chain Primark in the U.K. The bikini came complete with a top sufficiently padded to make girls look as though they have breasts:

The chain quickly pulled the bikinis after a public outcry about the sexualization of children.

NEW! (July ’10): Naomi sent us a link to Babi-kini, a website that sells string bikinis for little girls. Not only is the girl on the homepage in a bikini, but she’s in a typical swimsuit-model pose, too:

They sell a variety of styles, including one similar to the zebra-print one I originally posted above.

I went to the “one-piece swimsuits” section, but an error message came up saying there were no items matching my search. Sigh.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n10XeJv4xwc[/youtube]

Osborn Tramain posted this on youtube.

This is called the Bitchcruiser:

You can find a lot more pictures of it here and there’s one for sale on ebay (thanks to Laura L., who found it on feministing.com, via).

NEW: Audrey D.E. sent in this image of a pole-dancer alarm clock from a catalog:

The text:

Your guy will really “rise and shine” to this entertaining alarm clock. A pole dancer twirls around the pole to music and flashing lights. What a way to wake up!

Thanks, Audrey!