Selling Sex

We all know that advertisers use sex as their default tool (ahem) for selling stuff when they don't have any smarter ideas, but when 100+ recent "sexy" ads are strung together by Creative Bits it's actually shocking to be reminded how sexist and pointless so many of them really are...



The individual ads have also been compiled on their blog HERE. Definitely take a moment to scroll through, it's fairly overwhelming.

Your Ad Is Gross

Dear Social Media PR Person,
Per your request I am featuring the image you sent me on my blog. However:

A. Do not send me a press release for an ad that doesn't have to do with the subject of my blog.
B. Do not send me ads that feature a girl under the age of 18 in an overtly sexual pose. I do not care whose daughter she is.
C. If you do A and/or B, expect me to point out how disgusting it is.





[UPDATE] If you want to know more about this campaign, Agency Spy does a nice job telling the rest of the story HERE.

Linkage: From Social Trading Cards to Social Stock Exchanges

I'm heading to Austin for a week, so hopefully this'll tide you over while I'm away...


The social reality trading card alternative to Pokemon.

Investing in a Social Stock Exchange.

Taxicab curator. Thanks Carlos!

Fallen Princesses (image shown) via

A classic anti-billboard screed from 1960. via

Eco-friendly alternative to motivational office posters (image shown). Thanks Marc!

Duchamp Reloaded (image shown) via

Clever Condoms

The ocean of plastic is on the East Coast as well.

Mini-Golf meets Art in Brooklyn. Thanks Mica!

Bacardi using misogyny to sell alcohol...to women?! via

And for those of you following the story from last week...
busted Barrel Monster artist gets a commision...from the company he stole from. Thanks Carlos!

Linkage: From Dumpster Pools to Slum Tours

Turning dumpsters into public pools, gardens, skate ramps...and more! (image shown) via

Shop Well With You is a body image resource for women surviving cancer.

Helping street vendors understand their rights visually. (image shown) via

Slum tours, the future of tourism?

Anti-war ads show what goes around comes around literally. (image shown)

Once again Sappi is offering grants for design projects around social issues. via

"Now Slower with More Bugs" stickers for software or organic gardening! via

The future of insulation? Mushrooms! Thanks Carlos!

Target Women: Barbie

Yet another great entry in Sarah Haskin's Target Women series on Current, just in time for Barbie's 50th birthday...

Linkage

Well this week flew by thanks to MLK and Obama and so there were plenty of links I didn't get around to writing about once again...

DIY laser bike lane via

Urban Repaid Squad makes their own bike lanes (shown)

Affordable recycled paper houses thanks Carlos & Mark!

Women run co-operative housecleaning service in Brooklyn

Replace ads with art via Firefox plugin

LeVar Burton explores the Science of Peace thanks Mica!

Osocio says goodbye to W campaigns

Don't feed the lions: the street art of Posterchild (shown) via

Target Women

My sister recently turned me on to the excellent Current TV segment Target Women in which Sarah Haskins comments on advertising that focuses on women in her own special way...



Watch more episodes HERE.

Free Will Power

Free.Will.Power is a new campaign from NARAL Pro-Choice America which focuses on recruiting more young people to the cause by using a host of Web 2.0 tools. A series of videos was produced to promote the initiative, one for each word of the campaign title...

Beware of Pinkwashing

Think Before You Pink is a campaign to promote transparency when it comes to marketing of breast cancer related products. They urge folks to consider supporting the cause by doing something other than just buying more stuff from for profit corporations (many of whom only donate a fraction of the product's cost). They also expose some of the sadly ironic tactics used by marketers desperate to be positively linked to an important cause (test driving cars, whose exhaust are linked to breast cancer for example). Find out more on their site HERE.

Via Micawave

Feminist vs. Fox

What happens when a feminist writer/activist goes on Fox to discuss violence against women?
Jennifer Pozner, director of Women In Media and News (WIMN), decided to find out. You can read about her appearance and why she agreed to be a guest speaker on Hannity & Colmes (after initially declining) on the WIMN blog. You can also watch her on the show (or read the transcript if you can't stomach the actual program).