HOW FAR IS TOO FAR? DOLCE AND GABBANA ADVERTISEMENT ANALYSIS

D&G BACKGROUND *Been designing clothes together for three decades *Started off as a couple, inspired their designs *Both Italian *Not afraid to push the sexual envelope with their campaigns *Have had controversial ads released since they first started *Thinks that sex sells

WHAT DO YOU SEE? Male dominance Objectification of women Male power Intimate positions Offensive Suggestive positions Violence Degrading

WHAT DOES D&G SAY? *They see nothing wrong with the image *Has nothing to do with real life and is an artistic expression *Has nothing involving male dominance, “It’s an erotic dream, a sexual game.” *They say Spain, who protested for the ad to be pulled, is “simply out of touch.”

PROTESTS AGAINST AD *National Organization for women joined women’s groups in Spain, Italy, and U.S. in protesting image. *Fashion critics called ad gross and tasteless *Spanish government and Spanish woman’s institute started Spain’s protests *13 Italian senators objected to ad *D&G eventually pulled the ad from various publications due to protests

WHAT IS THIS AD ACTUALLY TRYING TO SELL?

GUESSES?

TEXT & IMAGERY *Left to write, where our eyes read from. *Front and center, yet very faded *Cloud back ground, seen as dreamy to audience *Levels; some models are higher up, some are lower, make eyes wander *Set up; looks somewhat like a stage All do this to pull in audience and get more consumers

MODELS *Flawless models, often used in advertisements *Perfect body figures *Smooth, tan skin *Audience sees perfection and thinks buying their clothes will help them achieve that *Designers of this ad wanted people to see D&G as a vision of perfection

DOES SEX REALLY SELL? *Still continue to use ads with sexual imagery *Since 2007 companies revenue has increased by 21% *Other companies do the same: Calvin Klein, Valentino, Jimmy Choo, many more. *Not only do ads use sex to sell things, so does movies, tv shows, designers, and other media outlets. *Sex is becoming a prominent way of selling things and has increased over time.

What do you think is too far?