Mainstreaming

On July 24th I posted a little exposé about the American Apparel company and their use of salacious imagery to sell clothing. This is nothing new and whether overt or subliminal, "sex sells" has long been the mantra of Madison Avenue.

In this, the internet age, the envelope keeps getting pushed and we become a little bit more enured each day. Witness this men's perfume ad by Tom Ford from 2007.

Provocative and titillating, this ad helped successfully launch the product and the actual bottle used for the shoot sold for 7,000 dollars on EBay to some guy in Japan.

Like many companies, the Tom Ford website has cached within even raunchier photographs as was the case with the American Apparel site. By hiding what are to many, pornographic images, within their webpages we are being encouraged to troll around and wallow in their brand's on line environment.

Of course I've dug a little deeper once again. Admen love trends and admen love sex as a marketing tool. They've been focus grouping the following idea to death and now seem poised to unleash a flood of very sexual images on an unsuspecting but primed public. Porn is readily available and ubiquitous so why not use it to sell everything! Not just fashion and condoms but food, medicine, cars...everything and anything.

This overt use of sex and erotica is the holy grail of advertising and by digging around in the back pages of some very reputable websites I've unearthed a treasure trove (or dung pile depending on your point of view) of new and very explicit ads.

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE ACTUAL ADS AND CONTAIN CONTENT THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE...ENJOY!

Not sure if that's actually an x-ray of Boniva spokeswoman Sally Field. Let's just say it is and move on.









A bit esoteric for my taste...I think they are touting the Sienna minvan's spacious interior.
The next 2 are more or less self explanatory. This one borrows directly from the earlier tried and true Ford campaign.





























As disturbing as these ads are they pale in comparison to the following ones for Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and Milk (a variant on their "Got Milk?" campaign)...oh no...not her again!!




My Goodness!!! I thought my decor change would help with the tone around here but honestly... I never knew such filth even existed!! And to think that I just had an ice cold Coca Cola earlier today. Horrors!!

I guess The Blob is just catering to his regular readers, the pathetic Bonemikexxster, the even more horrid Maria Callous and their kind.

Speaking of Maria I happened across a picture of her on FaceBook. Lo and behold she's sporting a lovely new hairdo and she's emulating little old me!! While I don't agree with any of her lifestyle choices I must say that imitation still is the sincerest form of flattery. She's got the hair
(a good brush would help too)...now let's see if she can get the perfectly narrow waste and winning smile!! Good luck dear :o)