Fruit juice and smoothie brand Boost releases porn-inspired campaign ‘Nothing But Passion’
A series of porn-themed promos shared across the company’s social media pages feature pixelated images of fruit, lips dripping with juice suggestive of semen and half a passion fruit with dripping pulp covered by a “censored” label, accompanied by a video of the campaign.
Enter the ‘Boost Hotel’ - taking viewers through the animated doors of hotel rooms filled with even more pixelated images of fruit, only this time they are placed in bathtubs with lipstick kissed mirrors, masked and gathered in groups surrounding giant strawberry lips, all set to sultry saxophone background music and breathy whispers of ‘more’ as we scan to the closing scene of two passionfruit lying in a bed of satin half uncovered.
“The thirst is REAL. 💦” reads the video caption. “Nothing But Passion is about to have you feeling some kind of way…”.
Use of the droplet emoji, known to represent ejaculation, in combination with the 'censored' and pixelated imagery and dripping mouth reinforces the porn themes saturating this campaign.
At a time when the harms of exposure to sexualised content to young people are acknowledged, why would any reputable company think it appropriate to create a campaign of puns and images reinforcing its sexually explicit nature?
According to Boosts’ FAQ page, its target demographic is “both males and females between 15-35 years old” also stating “we have customers ranging from 4 years old to 80+ years”. The Boost brand has major appeal to kids and young people - even selling kids’ products and running kids promos including school fundraising initiatives.
Also concerning is the minimum hiring age at Boost, 13 -15 yrs (depending on the state), with the nature of this campaign opening up opportunities for sexual harassment of its employees, particularly girls.
Sexual bullying and harassment are part of daily life for many girls. Young people are speaking out more and more about how these practices have links with pornography.
While girls are reporting escalating levels of harassment, marketing like this trivialises their degradation.
How do we expect our young people to navigate the endemic of sexual harassment when their own workplace normalises the use of sexually charged language and imagery?
Boost claims to “want every single customer to leave smiling and feeling just that little bit better.” We will feel a whole lot better when Boost acknowledges the harms of sexualised advertising on young people and exercises corporate social responsibility by removing this campaign.
Let Boost know what you think!
Head to their socials and leave a comment:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boostjuice
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boost_juice/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/boostjuiceoz
Contact Boost through their website: boostjuice.com.au
**Update** Boost issues non-apology
Thank you for contacting Boost Juice Customer Support and we apologise for any offense caused. Whilst our brand has always had a cheeky tone, this campaign and its content was created to add fun around highlighting a new fruit we’re passionate about – passionfruit.
Please be assured that the wellbeing of our customers and team members remain our highest priority, and your feedback has been taken seriously, and has been shared with our marketing team for their consideration for any future projects and campaigns.
We're not buying it.
Unless Boost takes immediate action to remove their porny promo material, their claims that customers’ and team members’ wellbeing is their “highest priority” and that they take feedback “very seriously” are meaningless.
Help keep the pressure on - contact Boost via their website here.
See Also
Research finds girls asked for nudes by up to 11 boys a night
Sexualised ads are harming kids
Add your comment