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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Lucky You? Sexism Sells Perfume at Urbana Bergner’s |
Current rating: 0 |
by Sarah Kanouse
Email: skanouse (nospam) usa.net (unverified!)
Phone: (217) 384-5346
Address: 604 South Race, Urbana, IL 61801 |
20 Feb 2001
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‘Lucky You,’ a fragrance for men and women, has launched a nationwide promotional campaign that uses retro imagery that opponents say glorify and reinforce traditional gender roles. The ads are being run locally in two vacant storefront windows in the Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana, IL. |
‘Lucky You,’ a fragrance for men and women, has launched a nationwide promotional campaign that uses retro imagery that opponents say glorify and reinforce traditional gender roles. The ads are being run locally in two vacant storefront windows in the Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana, IL. One window is devoted to the fragrance ‘for men’ (blue bottle); the other is ‘for women’ (pink bottle). No other differences can be ascertained; the stereotyped images used to sell the lifestyle associated with the perfume are the same for women and men.
In both windows, several cardboard boxes are covered with repeated retro-style images in saturated technicolor. The central and largest image is a 50’s style pin-up girl, with short shorts, halter top, spike heels, and hair scarf, crouched on one leg, the other leg outstretched. She covers her mouth with one hand, her eyes opened wide in an expression of shock. Another (smaller) box zooms out from this woman to reveal the setting: the woman is perched on the arm of a sofa, and the hand not used to cover her mouth is pouring coffee for the man sprawled on the couch. A second large-scale image depicts the same woman in different costume (jeans, halter tops, long blond hair worn down) standing behind the man and plucking the cherry off the top of his milkshake while he turns his head to stare intently at her cleavage. The images capitalize on the tongue-in-cheek retro cool epitomized in recent years by the Altoids ad campaign. But opponents claim that the Lucky You campaign reinforces negative gender stereotypes of both men and women by portraying a glamorous but still acceptably obedient female sex object while representing a man who obviously enjoys being waited on by an image of sexiness. As one Urbana resident offended by the display noted, the ad suggests that the ‘Lucky You’ man can have a servile sex object and the ‘Lucky You’ woman can be a servile sex object.
Complaints to the mall management revealed that the display is the responsibility of Wenda Townsend, Manager of the Bergner’s Department store in the Lincoln Square Mall. When asked about the images in the display, Townsend sought to legitimize the ads on the grounds that they are part of a national campaign. She claimed to be able to do nothing to remove the ads because they were part of a corporate promotion run in thousands of stores nationwide but did admit that "a slew of letters" might change matters. Townsend also seemed to believe that the images were acceptable because they were widespread and less offensive than other images in the media. "There are much more offensive things on TV…it’s no different than putting out Playboy," she said. When asked if Bergner’s would sell Playboy, she responded, "That’s not the point. It’s a corporate promotion. And all the other department store think it’s perfectly tasteful."
Townsend does not believe objection to the images is widespread. "If you don’t have people coming in and saying it’s offensive, then it’s just a tiny minority." Although she professed being unable to do anything about the ad, she indicated that substantial public outcry might prompt Bergner’s to remove the display. "Even if two or three people complained, that wouldn’t be enough to take down the ad, [but] if we get a slew of letters, then that’s a different story."
Urbana residents offended by the display can contact Bergner’s Store Manager Wenda Townsend at (217) 328-3800. To encourage the entire Bergner’s chain to stop running the ads, write to Ed Carroll, Director of Corporate Advertising at Carson Perry Scott, 331 West Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 52303. |
