Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Old Navy Ad

I read Professor Sanghvi's blog that posted the concern about the new Old Navy ads for the new "flirt" style of jeans. I have seen the commercial many times and I have never listened to the song close enough to hear those lyrics that Anamarie considered so offensive. I believe that the lyrics implied that when a woman says "No" she's only flirting, and this offends Anamarie because it disregards the importance of taking a woman seriously when she says "No", and promotes (in some way) sexual assault on a woman. I think that Anamarie is taking this way too seriously. I think that people are watching the commercial and looking at the jeans more than they are listening to the song. I am sure that Old Navy is not trying to promote sexual harassement or trying to degrade women's rights to say "No" when they feel sexually pressured. Old Navy has obviously put more attention and detail into the actions in the commercial than they did the song because in this commercial they are not only advertising the "flirt" style of jeans, but also two other new styles--and neither of these style's names are mentioned in the song. This commercial is still going to advertise the jeans well and it is going to make people watch the commercial and remember it even if it has "offensive" remarks in the song.

1 comment:

Professor Sanghvi said...

i am sure Old Navy doesn't want to promote sexual harassment. ad agencies put in hours of thought behind every aspect of the ad - that song and those lines were chosen for a specific reason. i guess the idea is perhaps they could have conveyed the same sexy, irresitable message without using those particular lines from the song!

i think the ad definitely ups the Old Navy image and is a cute/ sexy ad for their jeans.