This is the best ad I’ve ever seen in my life.
“Perhaps you’re a man who grabs life by the cuff. You live life your way. And it shows…in the clothes you wear…in the women you love…and in the car you drive The Subaru GL Coupe is waiting for you. Sleek. Agile. The sculptured lines of the one piece body invite you in. With front wheel drive she’s different. A step ahead of the others. Go to her. Let her cradle you in the softness of her highback reclining bucket seats. Surround yourself with the lushness of her interior appointments. The GL Coupe is ready. Now. Turn her on. Lead her to the open road. This is where the Subaru GL Coupe wants to be. Unleash the relentless power of her 1400cc quadrozontal engine. Control the Coupe’s every movement — her every twist and turn — as you take hold of her rack and pinion steering. She’ll make it smooth with her four wheel independent suspension. She’ll carry you away as she peaks to the red line of her tach. The Subaru GL Coupe is yours. Waiting for you. And one more good thing, she costs so little to keep happy.”
While many wonder about the manner in which porn’s marketed, and it’s assumptions about how we perceive women, it’s worth remembering that in 1973 ‘women taming’ wasn’t even considered funny.
So are we moving forward or back?
(found via Jalopnik)
Assumptions about women aside, in my opinion we’re moving back (with regard to advertising) - considering how many women are willing to remove their clothes to sell any manner of (non-pornographic) products nowadays… Female sexuality as a commodity - how fucking old-fashioned is that?
Still, at least some 1970’s ads didn’t get away with such blatant sexism:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/340691547_e4fd0bfda3_o.jpg
Girl - I remember that poster being talked about in my youth. Ah… the days of pre-photoshop. Things were so innocent then.
Sam, the link to the ad isn’t working.
This brings to mind the old chicken and egg question. Are the advertisers at fault for creating such trashy ads, or are the public the ones with the problem, for eating this stuff up? I can’t imagine they would still be trying these tactics if they didn’t produce results.
Miss Knees - Link fixed. As an ex-ad guy there’s never a guarantee that anything will sell, but getting attention isn’t too hard if you’re prepared to go far enough. This ad might have been designed to shock when new (though I’d prefer to imagine it’s sincere).