Magnum's attempt to raise women's "self-esteem" is not helping

This is one from my backlog of reader-submitted content. Rachel P, who lives in Spain, sent me this Twitter ad from Magnum ice cream bars. She translates the headline as "how to raise a Spanish woman's self-esteem."

Yeah, ice cream, stiletto heels, and jewellery. That'll do 'er. Because feminism is so 20th Century.

Here's the Tweet:

¿Cómo disfrutan del placer del mejor chocolate helado las mujeres españolas? Descúbrelo aquí: http://t.co/FdrmsywrwL pic.twitter.com/QiGSCmbHYD

— Magnum (@MagnumSpain) June 19, 2015

It says, roughly, "How do Spanish women enjoy the pleasure of the best chocolate ice-cream?"

Magnum, a Unilever brand, is no stranger to controversial ads. Marketing primarily to women, they seem to have no problem insulting them with stuff like this. Tiresome.

"Sexy" Ryanair calendar ads banned in Spain

Via The Telegraph

European discount airline Ryanair is not known for treating its cabin crews with respect. They have a bad habit of sexualizing female flight attendants, despite the fact that their jobs put them in constant danger of unwanted sexual attention and even assault.

One of Ryanair's biggest promotions is an annual charity calendar that features flight attendants in bikinis, some of them topless. As if sexual objectification of employees for a cause makes it all OK.

Spain, at least, has had enough. According to The Telegraph, a Spanish judge banned last year's ads for the calendar from running in that country because they "treated the women as objects and were discriminatory".

As they face a new calendar season, Ryanair says they will appeal the decision. They defend themselves saying that the charity calendar raised over 100,000 euros "to help sick children in Poland." (The 2014 one benefits Teenage Cancer Trust.)

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO, recently stepped aside as the face of the business, after attracting a PR shitstorm for publicly sexually harassing a woman on Twitter.

Spanish condom ad shows how easy it is to "sheath" your "sword"

After reading last week's post about a weird Spanish tampon ad, a friend in Spain sent me this:



Initially, I had assumed that the product benefit being shown was some kind of new lube, but thanks to Google Translate I now know that Control is a brand of condoms with an idiot-proof applicator. Apparently, the sheath represents the product being applied rather than ye mediaeval maiden's vagina. (Easy mistake to make, however, when you consider the etymology of the word.) The point being that her knight is sooner ready for her.

Thanks, Rachel, for the tip.

Is this tampon ad the worst, or the best thing ever?

It's not your mother's tampon ad. But it's no "Camp Gyno" either.

This Spanish ad for Tampax Pearl, called "This Summer, Get Wet," features a woman in a swimsuit surrounded by male gaze. When one man, for some odd reason, tries to grab a tampon out of her beach bag, she turns the tables on him by using his hand to demonstrate the product's ease of insertion. Then she swims away.



Her line is translated as “It’s never been so easy to place it in the right place."

The Local reports that Tampax Spain received complaints about the ad, saying it was “highly sexed” and degrading. In turn Tampax claims it carried out its own research, which found "98 percent denied it was denigrating to women.”

The source also quotes the advertiser:

“The message we wanted to transmit was that menstruation and tampon usage is something completely normal and natural,” said Tampax in an official statement. “We never intended to give the ad any sexual connotations, we simply wanted to show how easy it is to use.” 

I'm not buying that. But I would like to hear opinions from women, in Spain and elsewhere, about whether this ad is objectifying, empowering, or both. It's certainly the first time I've ever seen a man's hand used to demonstrate tampon insertion, or indeed the only tampon insertion I've ever seen in an ad.

The woman, by the way, is Amaia Salamanca.

Iggy sells out again, this time in Spain

My old (well, not that old!) friend Rachel, who lives in Spain, sent me this latest cynical commercialization of the Godfather of Punk:



It's sort of a Pulp Fiction-meets-Repo Man-meets-Iggy's own sense of self-deprecation thing. Not exactly epic, like his stunt withn Orcon Broadband, but at least not as embarrassing as his insurance ads.

But who am I to complain? The man needs his retirement fund. He can't go running around with the new Stooges lineup forever...

Fiat 500L: Big enough for a whipped cream party with three international beauty pageant contestants

I'm not sure if this is another spec ad or not. But one thing's for sure: It's not subtle.

The campaign, via Ads of The World, is by Leo Burnett, Spain.

Let's have a closer look at the guy with the whipped cream, shall we?

Yeah... no.

You've got to love the way his "cream" is spurting out all over the place.

The campaign has two more iterations. One is actually quite clever, if you're into '80s movies:

The other one takes a weird, retro-racist angle:

They're all, supposedly, about the Fiat 500L's bigger interior capacity. But the concept looks more like something that's been sitting around the creative department for a while, looking for an excuse to be executed.

Questionable subject matter aside, however, the illustration style is pretty neat.

Lingerie models look just like Barbie

And not in a good way.

via Listia

Copyranter featured this campaign for Spain's Jane Pain (ay that three times fast) with the headline, "What you can´t see is all you want to see." 

I assume that these are two-page magazine spreads, with the genital folds hidden in the magazine fold.

Clever idea. Freaky execution.

Spanish boner pills make sex so easy, it's boring #FdAdFriday

"We have more than enough energy to do what you want," promises Fortiplus.

As long as what you want is to do anything but give a shit about your fuck puppet lover.


Fortiplus commercial from totalissimo on Vimeo.


But then again, Nacho Vidal doesn't exactly seem to be trying to attract the ladies here:

Via Illegal Advertising

Respibien makes your chest "better" #FdAdFriday

At least, I assume that's the pun at play in these Spanish ads for a decongestant product. Ho ho ho. It is to laugh...

Do you thing these could count as false advertising?

Via Ads of the World

I think the creative team behind these anti-drug-smuggling ads was on drugs

Ad by JWT Barcelona

Via Ads of The World

Apparently, pants are no longer fashionable in Spain #FdAdFriday

Since my last two posts were real downers, here's the cover of this April's edition of Harper’s Bazaar Espana:

According to Styleite, that's former Victoria’s Secret "angel" Izabel Goulart. But I seriously doubt those are really her legs. (Photoshop Disasters fans, can we get a ruling on this?)

And here I thought it was "the land of France" where "the ladies wear no pants".

Horny Bodies #FdAdFriday

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F'd Ad Fridays: Epically Effed Pizza Ad

This Spanish microwave pizza looks awful, but that doesn't stop these creatives from pulling out all the stops to create the most insane online video ad I've seen that isn't from Japan.

AdFreak's Tim Nudd wrote, "It's not clear if Pizza Boomerang is a real thing, or just a stunt project by Sofa Experience Communications, which posted the YouTube video."

Warning: It contains a very fake but very graphic pizza penectomy. Yeah, really.

F'd Ad Fridays: Please explain this to me

Via Ads of The World

I am lost. And a little scared. next!

"Good Catholics Use Condoms" ads blocked in Spain

Jezebel reports that this ad campaign, slated to run on Madrid's transit system during Catholic World Youth Day, was banned by either city authorities or by the media company (they're not yet sure which):

Catholics for Choice are a group who want to encourage sexual and reproductive choices — including open sexuality, contraception, abortion and IVF — within Catholicism.

While the Pope has taken a somewhat surprising harm reduction stance on AIDS and condom use, there is obviously a great deal of gap between CFC's goals and the Vatican's hard line on sexual issues.

Nonetheless, CFC have been at it since 1973, and continue to strive for a world "where all women and men are trusted to make moral decisions about their lives."

The Spanish language version follows.

Augmented reality hits the streets

KIA took an interesting approach to promoting its new Punto Evo. Rather than using QR codes, which are already common, they developed a smart phone app (iPhone and Android only) that reads standardized, well-defined, high-contrast shapes that are all over the urban landscape: traffic signs.



Here's more explanation:

"For example; a STOP sign will tell the user all about the new breaking system, a CURVE ahead sign will tell the user that the car has an intelligent lighting system that guides you in curves. And the list goes on with every sign and feature of the car."

This is a European campaign by Leo Burnett Iberia in Madrid,  so your mileage may vary if you try it on another continent's standard signs. (See full credits at their YouTube link)

Meanwhile, in New York City, new interactive LED signs are reminding drivers who break the new 30 MPH (~48 km/h) that they are significantly more likely to kill a pedestrian in case of a collision:

I like this approach much better than the KIA one. First of all, as I'm an urban pedestrian it's a cause I feel passionate about. Second, I'm a little worried that the traffic sign game by KIA will actually lead to crashes between distracted walkers and drivers.

The pathetic politics of hate and fear

My friend Rachel (who lives near Barcelona) sent me this political ad from one of Catalonia extreme right-wing anti-immigration parties:



My first reaction (besides recoiling at its sheer shittiness) was anti-racist outrage. My second reaction was, how far are we old-school Canadians from this level of anti-Islamic ethnic paranoia?

Especially since some of our southern neighbours seem to already be there:

I'm not scared of Islam. I'm scared of ethnocentric hate... by anybody, towards anybody.