Anna
2012-01-06 03:16:45 UTC
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/french-online-retailer-features-nude-man-in-kids-ad-inadvertent-or-not/
http://tinyurl.com/7uofquk
It is no secret that the French and Europeans in general have a much
more liberal attitude towards nudity in print and televised media than
those in other parts of the world. Nonetheless, it is odd, even for a
French retailer, to feature a fully grown, stark naked man in the
background of an advert for children’s T-shirts.
Yet that is precisely what was done by La Redoute, a retailer that
sells everything from men’s, women‘s and children’s apparel to
household gadgets.
Styleite reports:
Stylist UK reports that the image has stirred up its fair share of
controversy in France — and with good reason. The photo, found on La
Redoute’s e-commerce site, features four annoyingly happy looking
children frolicking on the beach wearing fun (if grammatically
incorrect) T-shirts. But way off in the distance behind them is a man
wearing absolutely nothing. This is creepy on a number of levels — in
the photo, this naked man’s presence invalidates all that childlike
joy the children are experiencing.
But then you have to step back a level. How did this man get here
in the first place? Did La Redoute really do a children’s photoshooot
on a beach where people are allowed to roam around naked? Odds are, if
there was one naked guy on that beach, there were probably more.
Styleite adds that the French Twittersphere is now teeming with
outrage over the ad:
We don’t speak French, but the language of righteous indignation
is universal. One angry tweeter described the affair as a “SCANDALE!”
Bearing in mind French views on nudity, had this been an ad for adult
products, featuring only adults, it might have been overlooked — but
it is safe to say there is no place for adult full frontal nudity in
an ad for and including children. It is difficult to imagine that the
glaring faux pas innocently slipped by the retailer in either the
production or post-production stage of the ad — which leads one to
conclude that the retailer adheres to the old motto: “There’s no such
thing as bad publicity.”
Many of La Redoute’s customers might soon be telling the online
retailer “c’est la vie.”
Below are the images from the ad in question. The Blaze has blurred
the unmentionables:
http://tinyurl.com/7uofquk
It is no secret that the French and Europeans in general have a much
more liberal attitude towards nudity in print and televised media than
those in other parts of the world. Nonetheless, it is odd, even for a
French retailer, to feature a fully grown, stark naked man in the
background of an advert for children’s T-shirts.
Yet that is precisely what was done by La Redoute, a retailer that
sells everything from men’s, women‘s and children’s apparel to
household gadgets.
Styleite reports:
Stylist UK reports that the image has stirred up its fair share of
controversy in France — and with good reason. The photo, found on La
Redoute’s e-commerce site, features four annoyingly happy looking
children frolicking on the beach wearing fun (if grammatically
incorrect) T-shirts. But way off in the distance behind them is a man
wearing absolutely nothing. This is creepy on a number of levels — in
the photo, this naked man’s presence invalidates all that childlike
joy the children are experiencing.
But then you have to step back a level. How did this man get here
in the first place? Did La Redoute really do a children’s photoshooot
on a beach where people are allowed to roam around naked? Odds are, if
there was one naked guy on that beach, there were probably more.
Styleite adds that the French Twittersphere is now teeming with
outrage over the ad:
We don’t speak French, but the language of righteous indignation
is universal. One angry tweeter described the affair as a “SCANDALE!”
Bearing in mind French views on nudity, had this been an ad for adult
products, featuring only adults, it might have been overlooked — but
it is safe to say there is no place for adult full frontal nudity in
an ad for and including children. It is difficult to imagine that the
glaring faux pas innocently slipped by the retailer in either the
production or post-production stage of the ad — which leads one to
conclude that the retailer adheres to the old motto: “There’s no such
thing as bad publicity.”
Many of La Redoute’s customers might soon be telling the online
retailer “c’est la vie.”
Below are the images from the ad in question. The Blaze has blurred
the unmentionables: