Comments on: Nudity and sexuality in European advertising

By: Syao

Syao — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:53:09 +0000

Phil did you even take the time to read the comments? There is barely anyone here shocked or offended by nudity. Maybe you should display some literacy before heaving judgments about people’s views on nudity and certainly before you comment.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:40:46 +0000

It is amazing to me that people are “shocked” or “offended” by a human body. I honestly don’t know why – it’s just a body. We all have one, and it’s nothing any of us haven’t seen before.

I think people aren’t as much offended as embarrassed – embarrassed for their own selves. And this embarrassment is elevated to the point that the person has the urge to vocalize it. But people aren’t likely to just say “Oh gosh, I am embarrassed”. They’re more likely to react to this embarrassment with anger, and thus react by “becoming offended.”

So, the next time you feel offended for seeing a nude human body, take a moment to think about this feeling. Are you truly offended? Or are you feeling a little embarrassment and shame and simply reacting to those feelings with a little anger?

By: Nina

Nina — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:52:47 +0000

I think the second pic doesnt give that piece of art any justice, i have seen it and it is a truely beautiful. i would love it in my house and i am a girl!
those bags are in the way else you would see her feet…
and although its seems to expose everything it is all hidden by shade and that shop is built to look like a house, i’m not sure but if i remember right that is a bedroom, sometimes you see models just walking around from room to room as if they were in their own house, they dont sell only handbags they sell all clothes, shoes and everything from that brand, but in italy its not about what u are selling it is about lifestyle!

By: Rosanna

Rosanna — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:51:39 +0000

The Atlantic gap is big not just when it comes to nudity… it involves *anything* regarding the body. As a European it sounds to me like Americans are WAY too uncomfortable with personal hygiene, enjoying food (eat, pray, love — anyone?), and stuff like that. Americans are grossed out by bidets, French and/or Italian people are grossed out by people who don’t use it LOL Even the idea of beauty in the US is plastic, artificial, surgical, made-up.

By: Marie Claire combines plus size and nudity

Marie Claire combines plus size and nudity — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:36:31 +0000

[...] Nudity is commonplace in European advertising, so it’s no surprise that one of the models is topless. She looks magnificent. Remember that this is French Marie Claire and it’s common for ladies to tan topless in France. This type of advertising probably doesn’t kick up any fuss over there. [...]

By: cathy

cathy — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 06:14:33 +0000

AA is highly sexual and provocative in a way that is supposed to titillate and upset people thereby driving sales. Nudity is not the issue really. The European pictures look fairly tasteful/harmless to me.

By: Vibeke in Oslo

Vibeke in Oslo — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:06:08 +0000

Interesting. There are two issues here, I think

1. Nudity per ce
2. The specific photos shown

As a Scandinavian, I’ve grown up with what mainstream America (as I understand it) would think were a shocking amount of nudity. I don’t think the grown-ups of my time even knew pedofilia existed and children were encouraged to run around nude on the beach and in the garden up until the age of 6-7. This was deemed as very healthy to make up for the long and dark winters’ lack of natural sunshine and light. Some curiosity and playing “doctor” among kids were just laughed at indulgently. Grown-ups would quite often sunbathe and swim in the nude/topless as well, but be more discreet about it. I still try to get a bit of nude swimming done during summer as it feels totally glorious (in a safe environment, that is). I grew up in the 60′s and 70′s with baby-boomers and womens libbers. Things like nipple shields and padded t-shirt bras still seems kind of hysterical to my mind. Not to mention “modest” swimwear. Oh BTW, I used to model for an artist friend in the nude.

The specific photos posted are another kettle of fish, though. As Antje so eloquently wrote, its just objectifying and exploitive. I also think the “foreplay” photos are quite icky. I love clothes and clothing design (I sew quite a bit of clothes) and would be much more interested to see the clothes themselves featured, rather than a couple of teenagers having sex. I guess the advertisers are trying to get teenagers to buy the clothes, though – and we all know what most teenagers think about most of the time, so … it’s an easy way to exploit the money out of them, the poor little things.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:53:09 +0000

I’m less offended by B’s body, but more offended by the set of bolt-on breasts the model is sporting, how realistic is it for an anorexic model to have breasts that look like they are full of milk?
Unlikely.
So it’s a marketing aesthetic, not an artistic one, and to pretend it’s artistic and not a sell out is a posture that is transparently ridiculous.

AA has had a smirky campaign that is akin to kids sending photos over social-networking sites. People would do better to boycott “FaceSpace” type of junk sites. They are now becoming corporate and blogger pimp machines, anyhow.

AA is just capitalizing on zeitgeist, plain and simple. I’m more offended by the factory farming of McDonalds than AA. AA makes their stuff in the US, and anyone who buys anything made in third world countries, then pretends to be offended by AA’s advertising has so much hypocrisy flaming off the top of their head, the light could be seen from three counties away.

Seriously flawed at supporting sweatshop labor for a pair of chintzy Clarks sandals and get strenuously knicker-twisted over advertising.

By: Merry

Merry — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:15:26 +0000

I don’t view this as an American vs European perception issue and get tired of Americans being stereotypically painted as prudish or backwards compared to their European counterparts. It isn’t true, you can find examples of backwards or progressive thinkers in either location.
Too many confuse edginess with sophistication.

By: Mellllls

Mellllls — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:01:48 +0000

I do agree that there is a difference between nudity and sexuality. I find the second picture incredibly offensive as it screams sexuality and objectification to me. I don’t even understand what the add could possibly be promoting.
Being an America born to American parents, I do find the first photo shocking in the sense that it is not something I would expect to see but not so awful to offend me. But I grew up in America and for better or worse this sort of advertising is taboo. Would I prefer a different image to promote the item? Probably. But not enough to go out and protest. I wonder if I would feel differently if I had young children. That being said a soap commercial that involved nudity would not bother me because it is not sexual and showering is an activity that is done nude.