Wednesday, November 26, 2014

How is this ad appropriate?

Evisu is a Japanese clothing brand, so maaaaaybe they're not aware of the controversy. Which I might believe, except for the internet, and that fact that you can just google the man.



Legally, no, there's nothing wrong here, since Richardson was never charged.  However, the practice of settling sexual harassment claims out of court screams "slime" to me, so I'm not sure that the image of him pulling at models' swimsuits is entirely the best image.

So the question then becomes one of good taste.  The imagery here is very reminiscent of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", and further adds to the question of how far is too far in advertising.  Are we desensitised to this?  Or do we just not care anymore?  Research has shown differences in how models of different races are depicted in advertising in Asia.  I wonder if people would then be more bothered if the model here was an Asian woman.

Not entirely procrastinating here...I am actually writing a paper about advertising, though I'm really focusing on some research I'd like to do about the acceptance of retouching in advertising in Asia.  So 50% procrastination at worst!

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