As You Like It

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Paul Joannides is a research psychoanalyst, author of Guide To Getting It On, and an editor of the American Journal of Sexuality Education. His podcast is at ThePleasureReport.com. See full bio

Calvin Nails Its Market

A billboard of a guy having a masturbation fantasy?

Calvin Klein Jeans Billboard

 

Okay, so I'm a little slow. I just saw a copy of the new Calvin Klein Jeans billboard at Houston and Lafayette Streets in the city that never sleeps. It seems that some people are getting worked up about Calvin's little cuddle party, and I'm not talking sexually.

When I first saw the ad, I thought "Lucky Girl." Then I looked a little closer and wondered where they got the eighth grader.

I'm also of the old school when it comes to the guys. I'm not sure that waxing from your shoulders to your scrotum is good for a man, or his character anyway. (One of my colleagues, Stephanie, tells me they use Veet and not wax. Veet, schmeet, men weren't meant to have naked nipples and be without fiber below the belt.)

This ad appears to be of a guy who's having a masturbation fantasy. But if straight guys are going to have a threesome fantasy, it's usually going to be of two women and a man, not two men and a woman.

And that's when it hit me. The audience for this ad appears to be straight women and gay men. If so, Calvin's ad agency deserves a star on the streets of Chelsea. Straight guys probably don't buy Calvin products anywhere near the rate that women and gay guys do and this ad totally nails it, for the intended male audience anyway.

Take a closer look at the Calvin ad--two pretty boys and one seriously skinny girl. This is not going to put a tent in the pants of your average straight guy. I asked one of my other colleagues about his take on the ad, and he said "I think the billboard is HOT! And I am a gay man so they did it right. I like seeing a straight guy be a little heteroflexible and they KNOW that gay men love that."

Now, for the Paul rant: Look at that pathetic thigh on the woman in the Cavin Jeans' ad. Where did they cast her from, an anorexic unit of some hospital? I'm fine with the concept that a girl can get two guys, but I don't like the "skinny" message that's being foisted on the women of New York. Wickedly skinny, this girl is.

And why the Dolce & Gabbana Is it rape? vibe (see below)? But I wear Wrangler jeans and I'm probably not in the demographic that this ad is intended for.

controversial Dolce and Gabbana ad

 



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