plastikkpoet, · posts · by · tag: · advertising · - · LiveJournal

i was getting ready to post an abridged version of the first voiceworks sex column waiting for sparky (which i will still do) but thought i would jump onto myspace first and there, on my login home page was an advert for manhunt.net, an online gay and bisexual male profiling website facilitating hook ups. now, there is some dubiousness around myspace placing such an ad, given that there are a large number of members on the site which are under the age of consent, but that aside, it seems quite interesting (and progressive) for a mainstream site (in the sense that it is owned by news corp limited) to run ads of a gay nature.

i wonder if these are targeted ads to people identifying as gay or bi?

but now i intend to redeem that.

i'm at the gym this morning and i'm jogging my little legs off and my iPod goes flat! goddam it!! so i am forced to listen to the r 'n' b stuff that fitness first has on. anyway, not a huge fan so i wasn't very impressed but anyway, this advert comes on the flat screens in front of me [and i will address the issue of advertising at fitness first in a moment - see below] advertising nivea visage's aqua sensation product. now of course there are all the usual issues of the 'beauty state' and 'everyone must be beautiful' shit that advertising rams down our throats, but there is something about this particular ad that made me much angrier; the soundtrack was le tigre! i can't think of many other things that are as ideologically divided as the beauty drive and feminist pop.

le tigre – who are absolutely awesome live and i would highly recommend should you get the chance to see them ever - are feminist pop musicians using their music to deal with issues facing women as well as queer issues. how does that fit with skin care? i mean, i wonder if nivea read le tigre's faqs before making the decision to use the track. eg:

"WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU: THE MUSIC OR THE POLITICS?
This question drives us crazy! The music is not separate from our political ideas and we really can't choose one or the other. We don't think that art or music can replace political activism, but we think it can be an important part of a culture of resistance so that social change feels possible. We want to make great music that radical people can recognize their values in, because that is what we ourselves crave."

and where exactly is the radical values in nivea visage skin care products? what is political and/or resistancy about being guilted into using skin care products to feed the body beautiful and youth fetish of society? i wonder what exactly drew nivea to feminist pop music, and whether they can also see the tragic irony of this strange courtship.

what ever happened to the moral right of integrity i wonder?



on the issue of advertising at fitness first, to be honest i hate it. firstly, when i am sweaty and unappealing and working out i really don't want to see ads for pest extermination and noodles companies, or restaurants and television shows either. the world is jam packed with enough advertising material, i really don't need/want it when i'm hunched over, groaning and sweating!

secondly, as a paying member of any organisation, i really resent being sold off to advertisers when i am paying to be there! surely the fact that i have opted to pay to be in a space to work out would imply i am not interested in buying products at that very moment. makes me wonder what fitness first consider their core business; individual fitness or selling advertising space to a captive audience that they have guilted into being there by playing off society's 'too fat' and 'too lazy' mentality.

along the bottom of the screen it says something like 'audiences all day long' or something to that effect! i can't believe that they are openly refering to their members as an audience, especially in front of that audience!


ps i really have to stop letting people take photos of me trashed!



me with ben on brunswick street mall





x-posted on vibewire blog + myspace blog