The Express on Sunday
Jonathan Ross
(Loin King Poster)
(Gossard Glossies ad - When a firework is smouldering stand well back.)
UNDERWEARING: Do we need ads like Gossard's and Loin King's?
An advertising company which sought to promote a rather smart looking range of men's underwear with a shot of an obviously well-endowed male model has been warned off. Apparently it's OK to show a woman's underwear clad breasts but not the male southern region.
I actually think that the Advertising Standards Authority folk were bang on the money this time. The fact that the male model in question was shown only from the neck down did tend to objectify him.
The message wasn't: "Here's a nice young man in some clean undies." Rather it was: Look at the size of this. Then think about buying the pants."
The Wonderbra and Gossard campaigns - to which the advertisers tried to compare this pant fest - were far friendlier affairs. A beautiful young woman with a great body who looked pretty happy, as opposed to a slab of meat who had been ditilled down to his raw sexual essence.
Frankly, I'd rather not have any of them on posters. Call me old-fashioned, as I'm sure you will, but do you really want to see half the images that are flashed on to your retina as you go up the escalator or walk down the High Street. I'd welcome nothing more than a retro advertising trend - the Ovaltinies, the Bisto kids, the Esso Blue man.
If I want to see someone with few clothes on I'll buy a specialist mag. But when I'm just going about my business, I'd love a little self-control, restraint, decorum. Is that too much to ask?
