by In the week Calvin Klein went viral with its latest underwear ad, featuring The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, and alongside its eye-popping distraction, another one of its campaigns grabbed headlines for a variety of reasons. The brand’s 2023 image of singer FKA Twigs wrapped in a denim shirt with the lengthy tagline ‘Calvins or nothing’ has been banned in the UK.
A watchdog reckons Twigs’ advert is “likely to be scrapped” after two complaints. The ASA said the composition of the image “directed the viewer’s focus on the model’s body rather than the clothes being advertised,” saying it was “overly sexual.” Twigs rejects the negative labeling of the campaign, and praised the famous photographers Mert and Marcus for the collaboration. “I see a beautiful strong woman of color whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine,” a she wrote in a statement on Instagram, which she shared alongside the forbidden image. She said “I won’t have my story. Change.”
No irony is lost in the fact that Allen White’s images continue to be the darling of the internet, which the New Yorker called a “shareable feast” for fans of the on-screen chef and his. Iron Claw-honed body. The pictures are a reminder that sex sells – as long as it’s served up in a way that’s palatable to the internet.
Seeing double standards aside, it’s no surprise that both Calvin Klein ads have gone viral, or that their overtly sexy compositions have been banned. Pushing buttons by canceling their models has been the brand’s backbone, for better or worse, since 1980. Brooke Shields, who was just 15, found the same refrain that can be seen on a twigs ad for a CK jeans commercial (“You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing”) that gave her network take them off the air in the US.
But of course, Calvin Klein and his roster of photographers didn’t invent the provocative ad. Innuendo, eroticism and brazen nudity have been used to sell luxury fashion and beauty products for many years. As Alice Farmiloe, strategist for luxury brands, reminds us, “PT Barnum once said, ‘There is no such thing as bad publicity’. Heavy advertising is designed to provoke debate. It should always try pushing against the boundaries of what is considered ‘safe’.’ and ‘acceptable’.” However, that adds, crucially, only: “two it feels true to the brand’s agenda. Brands that want to have a place in culture should share their POV with the world.”
Holding a mirror up to a moment in culture, often through a perspective on nudity and sexuality, is a strategy that has long been used by the world’s most recognized designers and photographers. Many of them have been known as master motivators over the years. Yves Saint Laurent started a series of notable nude ads when Jeanloup Sieff captured himself in 1971 (ten years when the female page 3 was opened) for his eponymous Pour Home perfume. Later it was made into a jeans ad.
Then who could forget Eva Herzigova’s hilarious ‘Hello Boys’ Wonderbra ads from the 1990s? Apparently there was an increase in traffic and some say there were even crashes. Tom Ford has never been afraid to be subversive or downright sexual in his advertising – check out his 2003 Gucci ad with Carine Roitfeld in which a kneeling model peels down another person’s underwear to reveal pubic hair in the iconic G shape. the brand. it was the era of Brazil and the era of Sex and the City.
Sadly, some provocative advertising speaks to a darker story behind the scenes. In pushing boundaries, there are campaigns that have done harm in the process. Kate Moss famously starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in a Calvin Klein ad in 1992, aged 17. She has since spoken on an episode of Desert Island Discs about how she doesn’t have “good memories” of the underwear campaign, much to her dismay. he had to take valium in the lead up to it. Moss agreed with host Lauren Laverne that she felt objectified and said she was “vulnerable and scared”.
In the 2000s he caused a big storm with his nude fashion spreads. When Sophie Dahl was exposed to Yves Saint Laurent Opium she had almost 1000 ASA complaints, and was called “degrading” by some. Although it didn’t stop the brand from creating a full debut campaign again two years later for the M7 men’s fragrance. In the last decade when women’s bodies were under siege in the media, it is not surprising that the clothes were very much secondary to the highly sexualized bodies of women in some campaigns. Especially with now-disgraced men like Dov Charney shooting popular American Apparel and Terry Richardson campaigns for then-luxury fashion giants (both of whom deny sexual assault allegations against them ). The fact that American Apparel sold spandex leggings, hosiery and basic tees probably escaped many people, as the akimbo associations were the model that sparked the conversation.
Of course, it’s not the half-front or full nudity that has seen fashion brands getting the best of their marketing. Take Sisley’s ‘Fashion Junkie’ ad of two models strutting over a white dress, famous for de-glamorising cocaine in the Noughties. Although the United Colors of Benetton brand, known for its ability to shock billboards in this era, political issues, related to the death penalty and the treatment of AIDS victims in the 1990s, expressed in advertisements.
And fast forward to the 2010s and women’s bodies were all the rage in clothes this time, as selected models including Kiki Willems, then 18, for Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent spring 2015 advertisements. In an obvious nod to Slimane’s rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic, Willems’ petite frame appeared to fall to the floor, her chest and ribs visible in the low-cut dress. Concerned about body image, the ad was banned as the ASA deemed it made her look “unhealthily thin”.
In the age of social media, brands are still willing to straddle the line between virality and backlash. As fashion photographer Louis Bever says, the lure of social media fame may only fuel the desire to court controversy. “Brands like Benneton used ‘controversial’ imagery to engage audiences and stand out from competitors. However, as the backlash gained attention, it led to more sales. Brands are still are doing this today for similar reasons. They want to stand out, and putting a provocative image or message behind it means it will spread like wildfire during ‘go viral’ culture.”
Controversy is a powerful marketing tool. People are criticizing the FKA Twigs ad for not having a ‘story’ but not all advertising needs to.
It may be surprising that risqué ads have survived even in the age of cancellation culture, although not a season goes by without the site Diet Prada – which has become the unofficial watchdogs of the fashion world – posting a tone-deaf or frankly tone-deaf campaign. to attract attention. Few came to the scandal and shame caused by Balenciaga’s so-called “gay bear” campaign featuring two young girls from the end of 2022 onwards. The lure of provocation lives on for the same reason it always has: to make people feel something.” “Creating an emotional response in an audience has been shown in numerous studies to be the best way to cultivate and remember a brand,” says Farmiloe. “Controversy is a powerful marketing tool. People are criticizing the FKA Twigs ad for not having a ‘story’ but I don’t think advertising is necessary at all.”
The content that has the power to inspire people can change as quickly as the latest TikTok fad, but as long as they have the resources, brands will never stop trying to find the sweet spot of shock and awe. . And as Twigs proved, even after they are banned, in the internet age, the ads will live on.
