sex sells

Calvin Klein and Abercrombie and Fitch: Pioneers or Perverts ?

Using shocking, and sometimes explicit material to draw attention is not a new fad, it has however become a rising trend upon multiple advertising agencies today. With each year, ad campaigns have become continuously more risky. Each campaign is jumping upon the sexual campaigning bandwagon. Many credit Calvin Klein for taking sexual marketing to the level it is today. The newest addition to this exploitative family is clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch, with its outrageous Christmas Quarterly, packaged in plastic because of the nude photos. These two factors may have taken sex in advertising to a completely new level, and even more shocking than before.

Designer Calvin Klein is known for his very noticeable ads, even years ago. “In 1980 he featured a 15 year old Brooke Shields purring ‘Nothing comes between me and my Calvin’s.’” This raised many eyebrows and skyrocketed Klein to the most talked about designer. Throughout the years and with children posing for his debatable ads as young as 15 years old, Klein was the target of a US Justice Department Investigation in 1995, questioning if some of his ads were child pornography. Klein’s response to this particular outcry: “These campaign ads are not pornographic. The ads were intended to convey the idea that glamour is an inner quality that can be found in regular people in an ordinary setting; it is not something that is exclusive to movie stars and models”.

However this comment also came from the man who said, “Jeans are about sex.” Klein is not alone in his use of controversial images in advertising. The theory that sex sells is nothing new. “…American culture is permeated with sex…” Sexual marketing is taking a step further with retailer Abercrombie and Fitch. Known for their tight fitting clothing and suggestive slogans and sayings appearing on shirts and the like, they have shocked many with the production of their Holiday Quarterly (2002). The front cover shows a nude male and nude female on a bed, with numerous nude pictures on the first 117 pages.” Abercrombie & Fitch is selling porn, plain and simple," says Don Wildmon, chairman of American Family Association. "This is a company that markets itself to young people, and their message is one of promoting immoral personal and social behavior. The holiday catalog first breaking the mold in 2002 more closely resembled a pornography magazine than a catalog for clothing. The pictures had nothing to do with the clothing. A spokesperson for Abercrombie and Fitch was quoted by saying: “These photos depict young, healthy, presumably red-blooded young Americans posing and generally living what could be considered the ‘good life.”

Advertising today has a broader acceptance and a looser standard. If sex didn’t sell, no one would advertise it. Both Calvin Klein and Abercrombie and Fitch learned this lesson early on. Each has revolutionized their corporations and the fashion industries of today and continues to create shocking and sometimes questionable ads. They may be disturbing and exploitive, but if our population wasn’t so eager to gorge themselves on the advertising and provocative creations, it wouldn’t carry the appeal it has today.

ABSOLUT HOMEWORK

www.absolut.com
www.absolutad.com


The Absolut Vodka advertising campaign has proven to be exceptionally popular and long-lived. Established in 1981, the creative minds behind Absolut have continued to generate fresh ideas to market their product. A large part of the campaign's success is derived from the wide variety of artistic talents who design for the company. Many of these formerly unknown artists were "discovered" after their work with Absolut Vodka.

ABSOLUT MUSIC

Who doesn’t have a favorite song/singer/group?

However, since ABSOLUT has always been a very visual brand and music is quite non-visual by nature, the natural connection initially seemed hard to find. However, with the advancement of Internet technology, ABSOLUT was able to launch its ABSOLUT DJ site in 1998. The site was a tribute to DJ/producers. The focus on the DJ community was no coincidence: the role of the DJ has gradually transformed from that of someone who plays records at a disco to a visionary of music. DJs are the groundbreaking musicians of their time explorers of the world of music who change the map of a traditional art form. These are attributes that fully comply with the way ABSOLUT looks at the world.
ABSOLUT DJ was a success in many ways; the site actually created visual music. The technology was at the forefront of what was available at the time and the musicians that contributed forever changed the way ABSOLUT viewed music.
ABSOLUT JAM, a global jam from four cities that was sent in real time over the Internet, was launched in 1999.
With ABSOLUT THREE TRACKS, a new level of commitment is reached.
The project is based on three DJ/composers. The musicians were briefed in the same way as any artist working with ABSOLUT is: make an interpretation of the bottle and the brand.
The final results reflect the diversity of the artists selected: ABSOLUT BRIKHA with a High-Tech soul track that includes the sound of the bottle shape; ABSOLUT ROLLERCONE, with his sophisticated club track that pays tribute to the artists and designers who have previously worked with ABSOLUT; and ABSOLUT TAXI, a soulful track that explores absolute reality,accompanied solely by sounds created from the bottle itself. The vernissage was held in Stockholm in October 2003.

ABSOLUT FASHION

“It was great to be able to be associated with a company that has
such an understanding of fashion design and has supported
the work of fashion designers and artists over the years” (Tom Ford)

ABSOLUT FASHION first saw the light of day through a weightless, shimmery silver fabric. David Cameron's dress debuted in 1988 and propelled ABSOLUT into the fashion world. Cameron's silver mini dress was worn by model Rachel Williams. When the ad was launched, close to 5,000 phone calls were logged by the toll-free number that appeared in tiny type at the bottom of the ad. The majority of callers were women who wanted to purchase the dress.

ABSOLUT FASHION represents a synergy between the art of fashion and the creative spirit of ABSOLUT. The garments always show quality, cutting edge, prestige, imagination, wit, daring, style, sophistication and visibility. In short, ABSOLUT works with designers who have the same level of quality and style to equal our product. Since the designers have to please neither Seventh Avenue nor Main Street, the fashions are often over-the-top. Tone ranges from Piccone's sleek, white evening dress with white gloves featuring the ABSOLUT logo trailing down one side of the dress – to Jeanette Kastenberg's sequined jumpsuit patched with select images of works by such ABSOLUT artists as Warhol, Haring and Britto. Other leading designers represented in the ABSOLUT FASHION COLLECTION include Gianni Versace, Helmut Lang, Manolo Blahnik and John Galliano. Other examples of ABSOLUT FASHION are ABSOLUT NEWTON, ABSOLUT VERSACE,
ABSOLUT RUIZ DE LA PRADA, ABSOLUT TOM FORD. ABSOLUT GUCCI and ABSOLUT GAULTIER.

The ABSOLUT NEWTON (1995) campaign was shot by photographer Helmut Newton in and around the distillery in Åhus, Sweden, with model Kristen McMenamy. The collection showed high style ABSOLUT FASHION creations by fashion designers such as John Galliano, Helmut Lang, Anna Molinari and Martine Sitbon. ABSOLUT NEWTON was first presented as an eight-page insert in Vogue magazine. ABSOLUT VERSACE (1997) features a stunning fashion collection for ABSOLUT by Gianni Versace. The collection was photographed by leading fashion photographer Herb Ritts at the Ice Hotel in Sweden, 200 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. It features supermodels Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Marcus Schenkenberg and Mark Findlay. The campaign was an eight-page insert in Vogue.

ABSOLUT TOM FORD. ABSOLUT GUCCI (1999) is a fashion collection created by the American designer Tom Ford (Gucci). The outfits were photographed at a discotheque in Paris by photographer Mario Testino. The campaign was an eight-page insert in Vogue.

ABSOLUT GAULTIER (2002) is a campaign inspired by ABSOLUT and Swedish legends and contains haute couture by Jean-Paul Gaultier. The outfits were photographed in the Stockholm archipelago by fashion photographer Jean-Baptise Mondino. The campaign was an eight-page insert in Vogue and other European fashion magazines.

ABSOLUT ART

"I love the packaging, I love the feeling of it… I want to do something…"

This was Andy Warhol's reaction when he was first asked what he thought of the ABSOLUT VODKA bottle. And so ABSOLUT began its involvement in the arts in 1985 with ABSOLUT WARHOL – the legendary artist's dramatic and colorful depiction of the well known bottle. Warhol helped to launch a new form of ABSOLUT expression: ABSOLUT ART.
Andy Warhol recommended his young protégé, Keith Haring. Haring had first been noticed in the early '80s, when his artwork appeared anonymously throughout the New York subway system. ABSOLUT HARING was commissioned in 1986 and works followed by Kenny Scharf, Ed Ruscha, Armand Arman, LeRoy Neiman, Robert Indiana, César, Julia Wachtel, Pierre & Gilles and other leading artists. To date, the collection of contemporary art includes the work of more than 400 artists. Many have been showcased as part of the ABSOLUT advertising campaign and the works of art are also exhibited in museums around the world.

V&S Absolut Spirits’ commitment to the arts has always been based on mutual inspiration. The creative nature of the brand has attracted some of the leading contemporary artists of our time to develop their own personal interpretations of ABSOLUT. Regardless of the artist, country or type of work, every piece reflects both the vision of the artist and the spirit of ABSOLUT. ABSOLUT has not worked only with painters but artists in all fields, including sculptors, crystal glass designers, photographers, furniture designers, architects and jewelry designers.
There are a number of separate collections included in ABSOLUT ART. Among them are:
ABSOLUT GLASNOST (1990) a collection of works by twenty-six Soviet artists, including Alexander Kosolapov, Leonid Lamm and Evegny Mitta. Many of the artists had never had their art exhibited outside what was then the Soviet Union.
ABSOLUT EXPRESSIONS (1997) featuring the works of fourteen African-American artists including Anita Philyaw, Frank Bowling and Malaika Favorite. Influences range from traditional African art, abstract imagery and early American folk art and are represented through such styles and mediums as works on canvas, sculptures and quilts. ABSOLUT ORIGINALS (1998-1999) is a collaboration between ABSOLUT and sixteen cutting-edge European artists. This special series features original works of exciting and respected artists such as Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan and Francesco Clemente.

In 2000 three major ABSOLUT ART exhibitions were arranged; ABSOLUT EGO in Paris, ABSOLUT EXHIBITION in New York and ABSOLUT ART in Stockholm.
ABSOLUT was an official exhibitor with the ABSOLUT GENERATIONS exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2003. For the ABSOLUT GENERATIONS project, 13 of Europe’s leading artists were chosen from the ABSOLUT ART collection, to become “mentors” to sixteen emerging “protégés”. Each of these young artists created their personal interpretation of the ABSOLUT bottle. At the Biennale each pair, mentor and protégé, react to one another and interpret the theme generations.