In what at first seems to be a take-off on the Lane Bryant TV ad (featuring the luscious Ashley Graham), online lingerie seller Liaison Dangereuse posted this interesting ad for their own line of scanty underthings:
If you managed to watch this all the way to the end, you’re probably wondering how anybody reconciles the concept of women being compelled to wear the body-encompassing burqas in order that they do not arouse nearby men, with the concept that they enjoy dressing in what Western culture considers to be sexy and alluring.
As a story, this commercial fails in giving us any details to help us resolve such a paradox. As marketing, I can’t figure out who their target demographic might be.
Coming on the heels of the Lane Bryant commercial, though, it’s fascinating to see the point/counterpoint tones. While both initially have women dressing for what appears to be a date, Ashley Graham is obviously in charge of the situation, and plans the encounter on her own terms. Miriam Wimmer, the model in the LD ad, while seeming to be doing so, stops well short of showing us (and by extension, the women the ad is targeting) that her position is essentially passive; instead of boldly walking out the door, she has to cover up and remain passive.
Is this a cultural perspective? Or is it simply just an ad? It would be easy to write it off as just an ad if it weren’t for LD’s own tag line: “Sexiness for everyone. Everywhere.” Maybe I’m just misreading this, but how can you be “sexy” when you’re not in control of your own body, or whether you can even appear in public unescorted?
On the other hand, does it perhaps show that despite living in a culture in which one does not have the freedoms that we in the West take for granted, women can take charge in some small but significant ways?
I’m intrigued, but not convinced. But visually, I did enjoy the scene.
