According to Towleroad (a great site from which I ganked the photos in this post), the following A/X ad was considered too steamy for a giant billboard in Manhattan’s meatpacking district. Which is… um… interesting… considering how many mostly-naked people you can see in that nieghborhood on any given Saturday night. Like, it could be hailing, and the hail could have nails in it, and people would still be rocking low-cut tops and short skirts.
Anyway, there’s something about the ad I enjoy. Okay, two things. I’ll discuss them both—and reveal the possibly-NSFW full image—after the jump.
Here’s the offending photo:
Obviously, the first thing to enjoy is the well-toned butt in the background. I mean, my butt looks just like that, so it’s nice to feel like I’m seeing my own body type get a little support from the media, you know? That’s the only reason I’m interested in that part. The only reason.
And I understand why the bare butt got the billboard banned. People are always stopping me to talk about my amazing glutes, and if I put them on display in the meatpacking district, society would screech to a halt.
But the other thing I like about this ad is model Rianne ten Haken’s role in it. It’s refreshing to see an image that gives a woman so much sexual power.
Yes, ten Haken’s showing lots of skin, but consider this: She’s on top of model Kerry Dagman, and her pose indicates that she’s pushing him into the sand. We see her entire face, and she’s looking directly at us, like she’s daring us to stop her from having her way with the fella beneath her. Meanwhile, Dagman’s face is obscured. We can’t even see his eyes.
And it’s important that we’re seeing a male backside in the background. Since he’s the most exposed, the third model (Parker Gregory) is the most vulnerable in the shot. And his implied storyline is intriguing: Is he taking his pants off, getting ready to be ten Haken’s latest conquest, or is he putting them back on, a recent trophy that she’s already tossed aside? Either way, his presence in the photo underscores the woman’s dominance.
And look: I don’t love clothing ads that rely on sexual objectification to sell their product (and that’s most clothing ads.)  But ads like these, which flip the usual script of male dominance and female submission, are more interesting because they at least mess with the standard formula. If nothing else, the imply than men can be interested in ads that show women with power.
What do you think?
7 responses so far ↓
1 InfoMofo // Mar 5, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I think…
I think we all like this ad.
2 Nelson // Mar 5, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I think I love that this ad is on a page that has a Disney Parks banner ad at the top of it.
And female dominance is hot. Very.
3 gonzalo // Mar 5, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Just a quick aside: I googled the models in the ad, and I think you’ve switched up the names of the girl and the butt-man.
And I agree with your assessment – the power she portrays is pretty refreshing.
4 Mark Blankenship // Mar 5, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Whoops… you’re right, Gonzalo. In fact, I think I mislabeled all three of them. D’oh!
Corrections made. Thanks for catching it.
5 Collin H // Mar 5, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I agree with you that its nice to see the gender roles reversed here. It’s clear that Rianne is the one in control of the situation, which is refreshing after having watched years of tiresome Axe bodyspray commercials. I also concede that the presence of a commanding rump such as that does much to keep my attention.
However.
The composition of the shot is odd and off-putting. The positioning of the limbs and similarities of skin tones and fabric textures makes certain areas melt into an ill-defined sexy abomination. Rianne’s right arm and Gregory’s leg are the worst offender by far. It looks like she’s budding hot studs from her shoulder, kind of like Athena springing from Zeus’s forehead.
The transition from her blouse/vest/overalls to Dagman’s jeans is also a bit of a trainwreck. Rianne’s hips appear to be part spider and capable of something frighteningly exotic.
Also, Dagman’s right fist appears to be on a quest to penetrate the deepest recesses of her armpit.
And I’m reasonably certain that we should be seeing at least part of a nipple with that much breast exposed. Hey, know what else doesn’t have nipples? Spiders! I think that between her inhuman legs and mammary glands it’s safe for us to assume that she’s going to mate with these two guys… and then kill them.
6 InfoMofo // Mar 6, 2009 at 10:05 am
And seeing this ad makes me wonder, are there dedicated ass models? Like there are hand models? And if so, why isn’t there America’s Next Ass Model, Make me a Superassmodel, and the other ripoffs?
Pop culture maven Mark Blankenship, make this happen.
7 Rachel // Mar 7, 2009 at 5:24 am
Although really, doesn’t her look say “you’re next,” and so isn’t it yet another invitation suggesting that the sexual act in progress requires the participation of the person watching it in order to be fulfilled? She’s clearly not sated. Third time’s the charm. Third time’s the viewer. Buy some pants.
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