INTRODUCTON
In 2010, the controversial as usual Calvin Klein did an ad campaign to promote his jeans wear. It has always being a controversy with people about the tactics with which he advertises his products. In 1995 the company became it best at stirring up controversies and protest, after previous criticisms and protest about its adverts strategies it went ahead to stage a child campaign many considered shocking and “evocative of child pornography” by the American family association. The campaign was photographed by Steven Meisel (who also photographed Madonna’s controversial sex book in 1992). That campaign of 1995 has since then been considered the most gruesome of all controversial CK ads. Although the charges where latter dropped after investigations showed that the children in the photos were not underage. First he made his profit despite contrary opinions and secondly he made his impact. Somewhere called SoHo in 2010, an advert of CK jeans on a massive billboard was displayed in the open busy street of Japan. This is the usual style CK uses to capture the attention and minds of his audience. The advert was suggested to represent “foursome sex” by outrageous Japanese who staged a massive protest against the ad and express their disapproval. According to daily news in 2009, When CK officials where approached as to why the campaign ad was provocative they defended the ad saying “the intention was to create a “very sexy” campaign that speaks to our targeted demographic.” The following day because of ongoing protest and by court intervention the ad was replaced with a dripping wet skinny red bikini model walking out of water in a beach. Although the “orgy scene” was changed but the motive to appeal to one’s sexual feeling was impressed already on the minds of its victims.
THESIS AND DESCRIPTION OF THE AD
The 2010 ad showed 4 young people probably between the ages of 16 and 19 (three male and one female) wearing Calvin Klein's jeans. It showed a topless young woman on top of a topless male while in a heated romance with another sitting on a sofa. There was a third man in the picture that wore an unbuttoned long sleeve shirt and a jeans trouser lying on the floor below the sofa where the others laid expressing what might be considered by many to be a shocking sexual orgy. After an uproar of controversies the ad was changed to a dripping wet skinny model in a red bikini just after having her bath at the beach, walking out gallantly “like check me out can you beat me.” It became nearly impossible for anyone to notice the jeans won by these models more than they could notice what they were up to. In the ad showing the woman, it tells an average woman that she needs to have another look at her fitness. It is revealing a woman in the perfect shape – impression of the artist – thereby stimulating the damaging discernment of body appearance among average sized women. In his ad campaign of 1994 when he just recently plunged into the market with CK jeans, CK pulled the hat off in an interview with news week after series of controversies saying that the reaction by people was a “shock” and a misconception of his intentions. “My intention was not to create a controversy, in spite of what some people think,” he said. But was there ever a time that CK advert was without a controversy? And despite the disagreements the industry has continued to top the chart by doing what it knows how to do best. The words may not come out directly but the advert preaches it: “Sex sells." Calvin Klein “sex sell” philosophy is evident to his audience by how he draws their attention through obscene, provocative and pervasive advertisements. In his words, “Jeans are about sex. The abundance of bare flesh is the last gasp of advertisers trying to give redundant products a new identity,” says it all.
MESSAGE TO THE MARKET AND CRITICISM
Obviously the artist simplest and cruelest intention is therefore to promote sex. Aside this aim, with critical look at the adverts one could come to conclude that it was also staged to give a different perspective as to how fashion is viewed. It was meant to plunge its target into an obsessive state where a CK jean becomes as important as the phones they cannot do without and the entertainers that they worship. It was meant to draw them into the fantasy that fashion defines them rightly and that people with the same fashion aura can share the same things even personal things thus making them one - eradicating inferiority complex or fear of rejection - and living comfortably together as long as they all like Calvin Klein’s jeans – and doing anything they wanted.
INTENDED TARGET AUDIENCE
It is no small amount of guess that the victims of the adverts are teens and youth who are swayed everyday by an intimidating world of pervasive philosophy trying all within their capacity to find solace among their peers. CK jeans sell at quite exorbitant prices and wearing them attracts no small amount of disturbances from peers. Another intention by the artist is to make “money through sex.” Rev Don Wildmon to news week said “it’s a sad thing in America when the only thing they want is money and they’ll keep using sex to get it.” The aim of the advert is clear. It poses no other meaning to it viewers than it intention to promote sex and improve sales.
The effect of these provocative ads on teenagers and youth is the addiction they would derive if they continue to pay attention. What is the way out for them since they are the target? There is a study of the markets to know those who are most vulnerable.
SPOOF ADS
The best solution issued for any young chap is to ignore what this adverts say. Like the spoof ad showing an image of someone running with one hand grabbing S from top and the other grabbing P also from top and dragging away both as she breaks through the letter C, slightly displacing A in the world ESCAPE. Beneath the ad is a blur shadow image of a person standing by a camera calling out to the runner. The tag says “escape from Calvin Klein.” She had no time to look back but fleeing from her obsession. Also when one imagines if it is impossible to ever make sales with a decent advert what comes to mind is a spoof ad showing a kind of James bond scenario with a blue atmosphere illustrating love and not sex where a woman is on top of a man with her face radiating smile and the man careful beholding it. Both are well dressed in sleek jeans buttoned shirts and trousers. It is a small picture in a big picture that contains all kinds of people with happy faces. With this description one could conclude that the spoof was not actually intended for the audience but to the advertisers, drawing their awareness to the fact that if they had dressed the actors properly they would have pulled more crowd. It was asking the question; what is wrong with having a descent adverts?
THESIS OF SPOOF ADS
I so concur with the spoof ads. It passes a clear message to its audience that fashion is not defined by how TV ads presents it. That the strategies used are gimmickries used to make stupendous profit through X-rated adverts. So wake up, get up and run before obsession overtakes you.
CONCLUSION
A smart person is confident, beautiful and attractive with or without Calvin Klein’s wears. The truth is fashion is dynamic without commonsense unlike people. People can think and make decisions on their own. On the other hand fashion cant. It is created as a tool by men to get rich. While they try to make you think nudity will get you attention, also they try to make you believe only by their products make you better. Obviously it is clearer to now the intent of the advertising market.it is to promote sex – what they believe and what they stand for – and improve sales. You will find the above fact in CK slogan “nothing stands between me and my Calvin.” Big wonder Rev Don Wildmon to news week said “it’s a sad thing in America when the only thing they want is money and they’ll keep using sex to get it.” It has less to do with the wellbeing or helping preserve income. It is not about what a man or a woman wears but the manner they presents themselves. Remember the saying that “people address you by how you dress.” Some once said it should be “people will address you by how you appear.” It is not always about what you. wearing some fanciful clothes or jewelry and looking good always. It is farther than that. If you follow the trend of fashion soon you will find yourself in a dish. Learn to cuts your coats according to your clothes and Spend within your income endeavoring always to buy what you need and not what you want.
Works Cited
Controversial Calvin Klein Ads. Web. 2010
Krista Faye Gladman. “A Descriptive Study Of Controversial Advertising Using The 1995
Calvin Advertising Campaign As Data.” Johnson C. Smith University. 1997: 16.
Megan Barnett, “When ads go strange: Calvin Klein conducts kiddie porn auditions.” Parker
Final Project. 11 June 2011. Web. 7 May 2008
Sarah A. Amarghan. “Calvin Klein Threesome Billboard in SoHo Too Sexy, say some.” Daily
News. Web. 15 June 2009.
Sarah A. Amarghan, “After Orgy And Biased, Calvin Klein Tones Down Soho BillboardSort
of.” Web. 23 June 2009
