Originally published on The Conversation

Advertising and sex are two of the oldest professions in the world. Indeed, one of the earliest uses of advertising was to advertise sexual services; prostitutes in Ancient Greece carved ads into the soles of their sandals so that their footprints read: “Follow me”.

Sex and sexism, however, are different things. One is fun and most people do it at some time in their lives; the other is offensive and should never be done at all. But if recent events – from Eddie McGuire to Steve Price – are any indication, it seems sexism, like porn, is something you only know when you see it.

If you need to know how this plays out in advertising, the award-winning Game of Balls ad is sex-in-advertising. The Ultratune ads are sexism in advertising, as is the campaign using pre-teen models in sexualised poses to advertise dancewear.

Last night I attended a special preview screening of Taryn Brumfitt's new film Embrace. Throughout the film Taryn travels the world to interview an impressive range of women about their attitudes to their bodies including Adelaide researcher Professor Marika Tiggemann; UK talk show host/photographer Amanda de Cadenet; body confidence activist Harnaam Kaur; motivational speaker Turia Pitt and Collective Shout co-founder Melinda Tankard Reist. 

As Subtle as the Pose

Written by Jennifer Moss.

     

About ten years ago when the internet bubble popped, I took up a new career to pay the rent. I had a good camera back before everyone had one on their phones. Fortunately I was in L.A., so I hung out my shingle and started doing headshots and model portfolios and was fairly decent at it. I was eventually published. I worked with many beginning models, some of whom eventually “made it” in the fashion industry. But the more I learned about the industry, the more I loathed to participate in it.

Marketing and advertising is often ruled by sex. We're told "Sex Sells." It's such a long accepted idea that it's almost expected. From Microsoft using it to sell their Xbox to perfume companies to sell fragrances. Sex is even used to sell pizza.

It's a short hand, a lazy marketing technique that says little while showing everything. It’s forced onto products that don’t need it, don’t work with it, and have nothing to do with it, as if the product is almost window dressing, and what they’re really selling is the woman posing on top of it.

But what if the old maxims are wrong? What if the photos of naked or half naked women, sexualized poses and titillation don't sell? What if the preconceptions of advertisers were wrong?

Mad Pizza E Bar don’t have the best marketing. That’s the simplest way to put it. Largely because their approach to getting people through the door looks closer to porn than pizza. From the naked women on the walls of their establishment to the close ups of breasts on their menus to the soft-core posts plastered all over their Facebook page, they don’t seem to spend much time focusing on their product – it’s all about the women posing around it.

So what’s the problem? What’s wrong with using sexualised images in place of a marketing strategy? There’s a bunch of things.

This year advertising agency Badger & Winters made a commitment to never objectify women in their work. Alongside this announcement they also launched their #WomenNotObjects campaign - calling out objectification in advertising, which quickly went global.

This week at Cannes Badger & Winters Chief Creative Officer revealed their latest 'What Our Kids See' video as part of the #WomenNotObjects series. 

In late 2015, model Gisele Bündchen starred in an advertising campaign for Stuart Weitzman, a luxury American footwear brand. In one shot for the campaign, Bündchen reclines in a white shirt, its buttons undone to the middle of her chest and her legs bare; in another she squats, topless, in black slacks. Her body becomes the salient point of each of the black and white images, with Weitzman’s shoes reduced to monochromatic props for Bündchen’s prone body in its various states of undress. 

We've spent years dealing with the Advertising Standards Board, and in this time, we've seen the many flaws in the system- one we argue needs a complete upheaval. Of course, the industry likes things exactly the way they are. As the Australia Institute said in the Letting Children Be Children report, "… advertisers also have an interest in avoiding government scrutiny that may lead to stronger regulation of advertising in the interests of the general public…Self-regulation is a strategy that enables the industry to avoid such scrutiny."

We've made a list of flaws in the current system, and narrowed it down to 25. 

Another brand has been added to our #CrossedOff list after using harmful and unnecessary sexualisation to sell products. 

A supporter contacted us asking why she and her children have to be subjected to pornified images in while in her local hair salon. 

We have emailed MUK to let them know our feedback. You can contact them too. For tips on what to include in your letter see our Lodge a Complaint page.

Via the Herald Sun

A WOMEN’S campaign group want posters advertising a CBD entertainment venue removed, claiming it aligns women with meat.

Collective Shout has received numerous complaints since November about the posters advertising Schnitz ‘n’ Tits.