Emily
MikeVia Jezebel:
A viral marketing ad from Denmark’s Tourism agency has been pulled amidst public criticism. The ad features a young, blonde Danish woman, seeking the father of her baby. She talks casually about how they met when he was a tourist, and goes on to explain that this baby was the product of their one-night stand. She’s fairly emotionless, and emphasizes how she isn’t obsessed with finding him or needing anything, but just wants him to know.
The ad was put out by VisitDenmark, which is the tourism agency for the country. At first, the agency defended the ad, calling it, “nice and sweet story about a grown-up woman who lives in a free society and accepts the consequences of her actions.” Later, though, under pressure VisitDenmark pulled the ad and apologized, admitting that it was created to attract male tourists.
As Sociologist Karen Sjoerup puts it:
They’re obviously trying to sell a type of promiscuous Danish woman and exploit the idea that you can lure quick, blonde Danish women home – without a condom.
Women are frequently used as commodities to sell various products, services, and even rights campaigns. It’s gross and sexist. This one seems particularly bizarre, though, since the idea seems to be that Danish women don’t use protection, and now this tourist has a baby. I don’t quite see how that’s a strong selling point for the demographic they are trying to reach, but I suppose the harsh ‘reality’ is softened by the fact that she doesn’t seem particularly intent on finding him or needing anything from him.
The other off-putting thing is that the ad is obviously associated with sex tourism, an industry that is mixed in with sexism, racism, cultural stereotyping, and in the very worst cases, child abuse. There’s nothing illegal going on in this ad, of course, but promoting a country based on stereotyping the promiscuity of its women isn’t something that sits well with me.
Watch the ad here and see what you think (as long as YouTube keeps it up):
Filed under: Advertising, International, Sex Tagged: | Advertising, denmark, Feminism, International, sexism, tourism
And they wonder why Muslim women run back to the safety of their burkha.
White European women flaunting their sexual power too casually. Porn, legal open prostitution, now even tourist ads The net effect is destructive to women’s value. IF non-white males perceived white female meat as cheap. How would he treat his wives now?
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