[Imc] Sexist ads in C-U

[Sascha Meinrath]

Please Forward

SEXIST AD CAMPAIGN COMES TO URBANA:  READ ON AND TAKE ACTION!! (from Sarah
Kanouse)

‘Lucky You,’ a fragrance for men and women, has launched a nationwide
advertising campaign that uses retro imagery to glorify and reinforce
traditional gender roles.  I saw the ads in two vacant storefront windows in
the Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana, IL.  One window is devoted to the fragrance
‘for men’ (blue bottle); the other is ‘for women’ (pink bottle).  No other
differences can be ascertained;  the stereotyped images used to sell the
lifestyle associated with the perfume are the same for women and men.  

In both windows, several cardboard boxes are covered with repeated retro-style
images in saturated technicolor.  The central and largest image is a 50’s
style
pin-up girl, with short shorts, halter top, spike heels, and hair scarf,
crouched on one leg, the other leg outstretched.  She covers her mouth with
one
hand, her eyes opened wide in an expression of shock.  Another (smaller) box
zooms out from this woman to reveal the setting:  the woman is perched on the
arm of a sofa, and the hand not used to cover her mouth is pouring coffee for
the man sprawled on the couch.   A second large-scale image depicts the same
woman in different costume (jeans, halter tops, long blond hair worn down)
standing behind the man and plucking the cherry off the top of his milkshake
while he turns his head to stare intently at her cleavage.  By portraying the
woman as a glamorous but still acceptably obedient sex object and by
representing the man as obviously enjoying the experience of being waited
on by
a sexy image, the ad campaign reinforces negative gender stereotypes of both
men and women.  As one Urbana resident offended by the display noted, the ad
suggests that the ‘Lucky You’ man can have a servile sex object and the ‘Lucky
You’ woman can be a servile sex object.

I was disturbed by the displays the first time I saw them.  I immediately
wrote
a note to Tony Stephens, Vice President of Development for the Lincoln Square
Mall, demanding that he call me within two days to discuss my concerns.  He
did
not, so I called and was told the window was the responsibility of Wenda
Townsend,  Manager of Bergner’s Department Store.  Stephens assured  me
that he
had passed on my complaint to Townsend and thought it “strange” she hadn’t
gotten back to me.  Over the next few days I tried to get in touch with Wenda
Townsend but was put on hold for long periods of time (more than 15 minutes),
disconnected when trying to reach voice mail, or just informed that she was
not
in.  When I finally had a conversation with Townsend, she was very evasive and
internally inconsistent, stating at different times that Bergner’s was under
contractual obligation to Lucky You to run the ad campaign; that Bergner’s had
spent a lot of money to buy the ads and therefore must run them; that
Bergner’s
parent company, Carson Perry Scott,  forced Bergner’s to run the ad; that she
would only take down the ad when Lucky You discontinued the campaign, and with
sufficient public outcry they might reconsider.  

Townsend devoted a large portion of our conversation to legitimizing the ad
campaign, but her arguments in defense of the images are questionable at
best. 
She seemed especially proud of the fact that the campaign is being run in New
York City with a large poster in Times Squareas if its presence in New York
proves its social merit.  She reassured me bizarrely,  “There are much more
offensive things on TV.”  Perhaps most tellingly, she compared the ad to a
certain famous adult magazine.  “It’s no different than putting out Playboy,”
she said.  “That’s exactly right,” I responded, “and would Bergner’s put out
Playboy?”  “That’s not the point,” she insisted, “it’s a corporate promotion. 
And all the other department store think it’s perfectly tasteful.”

Townsend also tried to convince me I am the only person in Champaign-Urbana
offended by the ads.  At the time of our conversation, I was the only
person to
have complained, and, she explained, “If you don’t have people coming in and
saying it’s offensive, then it’s just a tiny minority.”  Although she
professed
being unable to do anything about the ad, she did admit, “if we get a slew of
letters, then that’s a different story.”  

I am sure I’m not the only person in C-U or around the country who is
disturbed
by these images.  I am sure I am not the only person who wants her community
free of restrictive caricatures of male and female sexuality.   If you live in
Champaign or Urbana, please call Wenda Townsend at (217) 328-3800 and demand
that she remove the display.  Write to Ed Carroll, Director of Corporate
Advertising at Carson Perry Scott, 331 West Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 52303 to
demand that he end the Lucky You campaign in all Bergner’s department stores. 
If you live out of the area and are disturbed by the ad campaign, contact 
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