Interesting Links for 18-11-2013

[andrewducker]

• Common misconceptions about publishing: "Why do you use Microsoft Word?"
  (tags: publishing technology writing )
• Denmark surpasses 100 percent wind power
  (tags: germany denmark windpower renewables )
• A Day In the Life of An Empowered Female Character
  (tags: feminism satire writing )
• Jon Hamm interview: 'Don Draper is dismal and despicable'
  (tags:

Comments

[bart_calendar]

With the exception of the cigarette ads why would the rest of them be banned today?

They are offensive and if used to advertise a mainstream product they would turn off a fair amount of customers but they wouldn't be banned.

Heck, I bet I've written more offensive ads than those.

For a dating site for gay men who enjoy unprotected sex I came up with the tagline "Condoms Are For Pussies" - which is on par with some of those and it didn't get banned. And for a site for gay men who were hot for Iraqi soldiers at the start of the current gulf war I came up with "They Already Hate Bush. Make Them Love Dick."

Unless you are selling cigarettes you really have to push the envelope to get an ad banned.

[andrewducker]

I agree. I should have rewritten the headline. They wouldn't be banned - they just wouldn't get very far through the process nowadays!

[bart_calendar]

You never know. I see some pretty offensive mainstream ads in France.

There's an ad for Magnum chocolate ice cream bars that has a naked blonde girl eating the bar as though she's sucking dick with a black guy with his hand pushing down on her shoulders and the tagline "moi et mon magnum" - and the anti cigarette campaigns actually have 13 year old boys and girls simulating sucking dick.

[andrewducker]

The French seem to be altogether more relaxed about sex than the British, and waaaaaay more relaxed than Americans.

[bart_calendar]

Any way more into using interacial sex themes in ads.

I wonder if it's because they have less black people than America or the UK so very white woman in sexual situation with very dark skinned dude seems more exotic than racist.

[andrewducker]

Well, less history of slavery in France probably helps there.

[bart_calendar]

True.

[skington]

Bet you'd never see one of those ads with a merely brown, as opposed to jet-black, guy.

My personal theory about French racism is that it's mostly about the ex-colonials they lost a war against. So while there's some racism about anyone who's not lily white (e.g. Turks and Portuguese), it's mostly directed against the Algerians (and Tunisians and Moroccans, who they can't tell apart), who trounced the French in the 60s, as opposed to the vietnamese (who also won, but that was settled reasonably peacefully and in any case they proceeded to trounce the Americans as well, which made the French feel much better) or the rest of Africa (who left peacefully).

So a jet-black guy, who's clearly from deepest darkest Africa? Fine. A brown guy? More dangerous territory.

[bart_calendar]

Totally. The ads that play off the interracial sex angle have guys that are black as coal.

[philmophlegm]

"Condoms Are For Pussies"

That deserves an award!

[bart_calendar]

Thanks!

[philmophlegm]

And yes, I agree. There's a couple there that you wouldn't see, but a lot that you might in certain industries, for certain brands.

I must admit, I laughed at most of them. If my reaction should have been shock and offence, then yay, I'm a bad person.

[andrewducker]

I giggled at several of them, because they just seem so ridiculous!

[bart_calendar]

Ha!