Several days later and I'm still thinking about this ad. I'm not sure what Peter Lindberg was going for with this image (it certainly is thought provoking) but I still don't like it.It's one of those things...tough to grasp at first but then over time it slowly becomes clearer.
Initially I just thought it was because of it's gimmicky approach (there are also versions of this ad featuring White and Asian models though neither of those ads has a nude model in them.)
Then I was irked by the segregation of the models by race. It is so rare to see Black and Asian models in major ad campaigns so what it the point of placing them in fashion ghettos instead of mixing them together?
Next, I was bothered by the nude model. Now, I'm used to seeing naked ladies in fashion magazine ads but I didn't notice, until I looked at all three ads again at TFS, that this ad is the only one with a happy grinning naked lady
surrounded by sourpuss expressions.Everything is deliberate in fashion photography. You can't convince me otherwise. So why bright red? Why are all the models nearly the exact same skin color? I have a huge family and you'd be hard pressed to find two people in it that are the same shade of brown. So who made that casting decision? I can picture someone at an agency going through a stack of cards, rejecting models that weren't "black" enough. Don't get me started on the wigs. I have a teeny-weenie afro myself so it's not that afro itself that bugs me, it's just the why this?
If you are a Black woman in her mid-30s like me, then no doubt you remember when Mattel came out with the first Black Barbie doll. I got one for Christmas that year. My mom bought it under protest because she hated how the doll was styled. Guess what she looked like...I wonder what my mom would say about this ad, 27 years later.
8 comments:
Do they even HAVE Asian Barbies out now?
It does seem gimmicky, and I wish they'd stop skirting around the issue and just start showcasing more than just a white model... nothing wrong against white models, just that the world is so incredibly diverse, that it's a shame not to do so.
What I found ironic in the past is a lot of mags in Asia (not sure if it's true nowadays) would feature an Asian woman on the cover, but the inside ads would be plastered with white, blonde models..
I don't like the naked model period. They all look like cartoonishy.
"They all look like cartoonishy"
What is wrong with looking cartoonishy?
Even before I scrolled down I was thinking about Disco Barbie, as I like to call her.
Does anyone else remember the Bennetton ads, where then would feature differnt ethnic groups, and they weren't cartoonish or jokey in anyway?
(and by the way, where did you find that Barbie, my older sister still tells me that I owe her one since I tore the head off of her first one.)
Found your post after googling the ad because, clearly, it bothered me too.
I had the same thought -- why must they all look the same? Why the clownish afros? And what's with the nekkidness?!
I'm bothered by it. Who gave it the okay? And who said it'll be cool for Vogue? (The largest issue of the year, no less.) I just... ugh... I don't know.
I don't like it.
The ad is very bothersome. The naked woman's pose, body language, and smile put me off..a frontal or side shot would have been the lesser of two evils as well; she is presenting her buttocks in a manner that screams 'animalistic'...but then again, home girl shoulda thought twice about agreeing to do the shoot in that manner...its really sad.
Why do afros have to be 'clownish'?
I don't see the issue here. Why do we have to be with White and Asian models? I've seen plenty of nude models of all colors. Afros are beautiful, nappy hair to me is more beautiful then straight blond hair. So what's the issue?
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