Posted on 03/05/2007 6:05:17 AM PST by cgk
Fri Mar 2, 3:11 PM ET
An ad suggestive of gang rape by Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana has drawn the ire of 13 senators who demanded Friday that it be withdrawn from circulation.
The ad, which has appeared in several women's magazines in Italy and in the daily La Repubblica, shows a bare-chested man pinning a woman to the ground as two other men look on impassively.
"We ask that Dolce and Gabbana withdraw the ad or that the company be called to respect the rules," they wrote to the Italian watchdog body Advertising Self-Discipline Institute.
Dolce and Gabbana already pulled the ad in Spain last month while labelling the country "a bit backward" for objections by the government and a consumer association over the ad.
The Italian lawmakers wrote: "The ad represents in a blatant way an outright instigation to gang rape: a suffering woman on the ground and three men whose function leaves no doubt to the imagination."
"We are disconcerted and offended, since it goes well beyond the concept of a woman as an object (common to) advertising images," wrote the 13 senators, men and women from both the ruling centre-left coalition as well as the opposition Forza Italia party.
"We wonder how it is possible to allow such violent advertising images," they wrote.
Dolce & Gabbana has for some time been popular among the teen crowd, and I didn't understand why until I realized their chosen celebrities wore D&G clothes to all the Teen Choice awards and encouraged kids to buy same. I've seen this company's ads & logos on the MySpace profiles of teens, right beside images of "Who I'd like to meet: Jenna Jameson!"
One of Dolce's previous campaigns, if anyone has any doubt about where they're coming from:
And... (link only):
i dont see any "men" in that first photo
seems all bunch of girls hanging out
Dolce & Gabbana angry at advertising campaign controversy in Spain
02/23/2007
Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has branded Spain as being 'behind the times' for demanding it withdraw a controversial advertising campaign, a newspaper reported on Friday.
Dolce & Gabbana plans to pull the advertisement, which shows a man holding a woman to the ground by her wrists while a group of men look on, following complaints from consumers' groups. "We will only withdraw this photo from the Spanish market. They're a bit behind the times," La Vanguardia newspaper quoted the Milan-based fashion house as saying.
Dolce & Gabbana, known for their risque clothes and adverts, declined to comment on the matter.
Spain's Labour and Social Affairs Ministry branded the campaign as illegal and humiliating to women, saying the woman's body position had no relation to the products Dolce & Gabbana were trying to sell.
"One could infer from the advertisement that it is acceptable to use force as a way of imposing oneself on a woman, reinforced by the passive and complicit manner of the men looking on," the ministry said in a statement.
Dolce & Gabbana defended the campaign as art in comments reported by La Vanguardia. "What has an artistic photo got to do with a real act?" the paper quoted the firm as saying. "You would have to burn museums like the Louvre or the paintings of Caravaggio."
The fracas follows criticism from Britain's advertising watchdog last month about another Dolce & Gabbana campaign showing models brandishing knives.
The British Advertising Standards Authority upheld more than 150 complaints from people concerned that the pictures glorified and condoned violent crime. In that case, the company said the ads were heavily stylised and mimicked early 19th century art.
Not many teens can afford D & G. The ads are bad, but are more tame than most videos on Mtv, not that that is a good thing. It is a sorry statement on society and the message we send to our kids on a daily basis.
Right? Just creepy.
You are entirely correct: most can't afford D&G new - so they end up at thrift stores, even Ross (yep I saw a t-shirt there once), and ebay, buying it anyway. My teen daughter's friends spend a lot of time at thrift shops buying items they can't afford new.
It's sick. It seems that everyone has to be "extra controversial" anymore in an attempt to get free publicity and "chatter" going about them or their product. That's what it's all about. The problem is that they've been doing it for so long, most people are just bored by it.
From what I understand about D&G, I'm surprised it wasn't all guys in that ad.
Gang rape? Judging from the 2nd ad and the others you linked to, I'd say those Senators are off base. The "victim" depicted in the 1st ad is too much a women to be a sexual target for Dolce & Gabbana's "men"... more likely they are out to steal her dress or shoes for their own use.
Did you go to the "Another Graphic Ad" hyperlink in the comment?
What D&G will compare the 'gang rape' image to in defense
I've never seen these before, but they're very sick and very disturbing.
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Yeah, I thought it looked more like a jealous catfight over a real man who isn't in the picture. ;)
You've got me laughing at the first portion of the above: seeing how often they advertise to gay men, that 'gang rape' ad won't be winning any converts THERE. And yes - I concur with your guess on the 2nd. Here's one pic of the duo:
They may be gay and it's all done in play, so to speak, but the ad has a level of coldness and violence in it that I found really, really ugly. The message it gives goes beyond the usual D&G soft core gay porn and into some really nasty places, like the hatred a lot of these gay men have for women.
Ping to thread... more of it in #13.
I sure wouldn't put it past them for encouraging an impression.
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