Advertisement Analysis

The market often sexualizes women in advertisements in order to sell products. The video advertisements that accompanied this photograph were actually banned from US television. However, another photograph from the photo campaign hung as a billboard in downtown New York City. The banned videos and the photo ads are widely available online, and some speculate that Calvin Klein strategized to assure optimum publicity. The company may have intentionally pushed the envelope in order to gain publicity and attention through the internet.

The sexuality of this particular ad is obvious. The most obvious aspect is perhaps the nudity. The models are wearing little more than the jeans. The way the woman is positioned across the laps of two men is extremely subjugating, as if she is succumbing to their wishes. She is clearly in an inferior position to the men, leaving the power, like her, in their laps. This is reminiscent of the inferior position of women to men in many various aspects of society, including the business world and the military.

Additionally, the faces of the men depict apathy, disinterest, and indifference. They are both turned away from her, as if she is unimportant. Their minds are elsewhere, as their eyes are unfocused on the distance. They may be pensive, thinking of something more important than the woman in their laps. Or, they may be daydreaming, wishing for something better than the woman in their laps. Or, they are thinking of nothing at all. They do appear almost bored in the situation. In any case, she does not seem to be on the forefront of their minds, and their body language and facial expressions depict their disinterest. The facial expression of the woman is less readable, but her body language is obvious. She is longing for something and submitting to the men. These aspects of the photograph are consistent with certain societal assumptions about masculinity and femininity. First, men are not emotional, and the men in this photograph appear to be void of emotion. Second, men have more important things to be occupied with than women, while women should submit to men, focus their attention on them, and take care of their needs.

This Calvin Klein ad campaign has proven to be controversial, but similar ads are becoming more accepted and more popular. While this particular campaign may portray more blatant sexuality than others, the message that it communicates about men and women seems to be widely used. Women are sexual objects, at the whims of the men who may take interest in them.