Play Tag
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Play Tag
The man is undoubtedly angry. The uninviting expression on his face explains it all. He stands in the street of the Italian villa where he lives, surrounded by enraged family. Fronting the perpetrator- the aggressor against kindred virgin innocence, the father stands armed with yesterday’s paper. He is not looking for a reasonable explanation, just to remedy the situation in the only way he knows how. To his left stands his aging mother, old enough to have frizzled white hair, yet young enough to defend her prized granddaughter against dishonorable young lads. She too stands scowling, ranting Italian words of slang in an overly vindictive manner. Behind her stands another man, the grandfather of the victim of indecency. Unlike his partner, he stands collected, showing little emotion. Seemingly perplexed by the resulting incident, he shows signs of understanding. Knowledgeable of the true course of events, he is unable to fully clinch his risen fist. Instead he stands undecided, unhappy, but nonetheless unable to follow through with any violent action. And then finally there is the beautifully mischievous daughter herself. Positioned between her father and brother she is wearing a bright red Gucci dress with matching heels. The strikingly attractive young girl, no younger than 16, no older than 21, is overflowing with sexuality. Confidently standing with one hand on her hip, she displays a naughty, yet playful smirk. Extremely satisfied with her actions minutes ago, she cares little of the harm caused by her displacement; only about the fulfilling intimacy and her resulting orgasm. However, she is not to blame for her inescapable sexual desire. She was taken advantage of.
The striking young female is a victim of Tag- a seducing body-spray worn by men and irresistible to women. In the middle of the advertisement in bold red letters reads: “WARNING, THE MAKERS OF TAG BODY SPRAY WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONISBLE FOR ANY BREACH OF LOCAL CUSTOMS WITH REGARD TO вЂ?GETTIING IT ON.’ FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, CARRY THE CARD BELOW.” Below the initial advertising lays a card titled “Pocket Translator,” stating, “NO SIR I DID NOT HAVE FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH YOUR DAUGTHER.” The card conveniently translates the English reading into French, German, Italian, and Spanish, in case the wearer of Tag sleeps with a woman of a different nationality, thus needing to fend off the girl’s father. The card also reads: “TAG- Consider yourself warned.” And lest the viewer is still unaware of the power and potential of the product, at the very bottom of the page in fine print states, “Introducing Tag Body Spray for men. Uniquely designed to attract the ladies.”
Reading Maxim magazine for men, I ran into many advertisements that could be classified as risquĩ. However, none were as quite as vulgar as Tag Body Spray’s. The marketing effect of Tag Body Spray is another example of a company crossing the invisible border of modesty in order to sell a product and make a profit. Although this advertisement seems harmlessly humorous and witty on the surface, the marketers of Tag Body Spray are destroying moral principles and ethical values, creating harmful and inaccurate stereotypes, and setting unrealistic and unattainable heights of physical appearance for most women.
The brilliance and creativeness of this advertisement is indisputable. The marketers of Tag Body Spray cleverly mixed humor with incentive in order to reach out to their potential customers. The way the designers made the family appear to be looking out at the viewer makes the advertisement seem more realistic, adding a personal dimension to the picture. In this sense, the reader or the intended audience of the advertisement, (in this case a young man) is made to believe he is actually the individual who slept with the father’s daughter — a beautifully exotic female to say the least. One positive aspect of the advertisement is that the product helps young men attract ladies, perhaps giving every young sex seeking voyager a chance to get laid. The tactically deployed message of the advertisement is: Tag = sex. Of course some may feel the quality of the message and the eagerness of the advertisers to help young men get “lucky” is both negative and inappropriate. And of course under heavy scrutiny the marketers will claim that the true message of the advertisement is that Tag smells incredibly great, and that the sex theme is only a satirical analogy demonstrating its fragrant smell. However, the humor and sexual underlying theme is stronger then the real catch- that it simply smells good. Young men are buying the product exclusively to attract women and to get “play.” Unfortunately, the humor, brilliance, and cleverness of the advertisement are used in a decadent manner, placing a sexually degrading connotation on both men and women, therefore destroying values.
So what exactly are the ethical and moral consequences of the advertisement’s message? The consequences of what was intended as an innocent advertising scheme turns out to be quite destructive. Young men are being taught that it is perfectly fine to sleep around with numerous girls, and that the only consequence of sex is that it is pleasurable and stimulating. They are being taught that girls are only objects of sexual desire or play toys for capturing ecstasy. However, young women are human beings with souls. When females become sexually active, they become emotionally and spiritually connected with their partner. Thus, when they are lustfully taken advantage of or treated as an object they become hurt or even devastated, consequently forming a negative view of men. That’s just how they are made. On the other hand one could say that the advertisement opens the door to sexual exploration. It could be seen as positive reinforcement for men and women to experiment with and to express their sexual freedom. In this case the advertisement could be very helpful and beneficial. For those who believe sex is nothing more than intercourse, the advertisement is truly supportive and creative. It counters previously defined sexual barriers and pushes for sexual autonomy. Even so, it some what one sided. The advertisement demonstrates only heterosexual expression, not that of bisexuals or homosexuals. What about lesbians and gays? Are they unimportant or perhaps just left out? However, many would agree that the advertisement does more harm then good. Men are being brainwashed with immoral thoughts that are wrecking heterogeneous relationships altogether. If sex is the most