There is little more successful at pushing product than the use of tits. So efficient are those fleshy domes at driving market growth that boobies have been making men buy useless shit since razors had only one blade. But can breasts be just as effective in raising awareness on topical issues as it is in stripping men of their earnings? MTV Canada is hoping so, having released a highly sexualized advertisement in their fight against breast cancer. The commercial stars Canadian VJ Aliya Jasmine Sovani showcasing a handful of talents; well two handfuls, (she doesn’t actually talk, act, sing, or dance) namely, her large, supple, globe-like, breasts, which are shown in high doses swaying hammocked in the embrace of her virginal white bikini top. What a talent.
The commercial is set at a pool party, making allusion to every single male targeted piece of advertising ever created. After establishing how much fun everyone is having, the attendees suddenly turn their attention to something taking place offscreen. The commercial finally cuts to show what everyone is looking at; Sovani’s bikini clad brick house of a body. The camera eventually zones in on her gun rack, giving the viewer a slow motion close-up of the buoyancy that Sovani keeps hidden under her shirt. The ad was so effective that after google-ing ‘Aliya Jasmine Sovani Tits’, I went to the nearest LCBO to pick up a 24 pack of beer. Unfortunately, the beer wasn’t as satisfying as her boobs initially proposed it to be.
I was so caught up with the TnT that I completely forgot what the ad was for (it wasn't bodyspray, either). The sexual content worked far too effectively: it grabbed my attention but did not align it with the commercial’s main message. The campaign developers failed to realize that what makes sex such an effective marketing device for selling things does not necessarily make it effective at raising awareness on issues.
Sex in traditional marketing campaigns are successful because they do not simply rouse attention but play on men’s insecurities as well to effectively sell products. These commercials work by making men conscious of the sex they would easily be getting had they not been so lazy and bought the damn product in question. The sense of lack that is instilled in men is given further strength by the fact that the commercial is illusory: men will generally never score with a girl as hot as the one onscreen and will feel even more unattractive and inadequate as a result. Men are suckers for sex that sells because it not only sells the idea of sex but also sells the idea of self-improvement: this product will get you sex by first making you irresistible to women. Sex in these commercials tease male narcissism as part of the whole sexual fantasy.
This is why MTV Canada’s breast cancer awareness ad fails. It offers the sex but does not offer men an outlet to self-idealize. Men are full of themselves that way and need to be antagonized into action. MTV Canada's ad does not rouse a response other than perhaps an erection. Sovani may have lured attention to her breasts but did not raise awareness of breast cancer.
it reminds me of that rachel stevens testicular cancer video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QsP4wB2f6c
you say you forgot that the ad was about breast cancer, but you spent at least an hour writing about the ad/breast cancer, mentioned breast cancer 4 times in this piece, and posted about breast cancer, separately, in both the video section and the wikipedia section.
Touche', but unfortunately I still haven't done anything constructive for the cause
BTW, who has testicles the size of a plum?
well, you've spread some awareness. And now that you've consciously admitted you "haven't done anything for the cause", I'm guessing your guilt will have you donating some money soon.
plus, i sort of think that breast cancer is one of the worst afflictions and it's less out of any elevated humanity. it is actually because i love breasts. guys don't usually mention this, but im guessing it's a pretty common formula. so, it's sort of good that there's a commercial out stating the obvious.
It wasn't that bad. The key is that the ad is targeting a younger generation, which is critical, to the early detection of the disease which is key to keeping it in control. The ads used to be for the older generation but at that point, detection is pretty ineffective.
So, hence the "Beer Ad" approach... it did achieve its objective of getting attention...