Whilst scrolling through Twitter recently, I stumbled across a user praising an ad campaign that I was not familiar with. The images featured a nude male model posed in an almost degrading manner whilst a smartly dressed, fully clothed African-American model stood over him. To say that these powerful images caught my eye would be an understatement.
After further research, I discovered that the campaign images were taken by renowned photographer Carli Hermes for the brand ‘SUI STUDIO‘. The brand itself intrigued me as it creates high quality, tailor made suits that are designed only for women.
“Suistudio focuses on ensuring a perfect fit and modern aesthetic through its expert tailoring and use of only the finest fabrics from world-renowned Italian mills. Having power suiting at its core, the collection is an array of chic, impeccably tailored silhouettes — a paradox of powerful and playful, it’s a no-fuss look that means business. Take a browse through our new collection and it will soon become apparent: we specialize in suits, but we’re not dressing men” (SUISTUDIO, 2017)
The viral success of the campaign is mainly due to it’s ‘role reversal’ of male and females in the media, especially fashion. Female models are often posed provocatively or nude to sell products for many brands. Dolce & Gabbana’s campaign dubbed the ‘gang rape ad’ was banned in Spain due to its provocative nature and degrading image of women. Similarly in 2007, Tom Ford’s campaign advertising their first ever male fragrance further exploited the notion that ‘sex sells’ by using the image of a naked woman.
The SUISTUDIO campaign is refreshing in the sense that the roles are completely reversed: Men are now the subject of the ‘sex sells’ notion. Women across social media feel a sense of empowerment from the campaign due to it not objectifying women, however many have come to question: Is it not just as bad to objectify men in the media as it is objectifying women? The controversial opinions over the campaign have sparked huge debate on social media:
However powerful the message behind the campaign may be, many argue that men should not be objectified as a way to overcome the objectification of women. It seems for the time being the media will continue to use the notion that ‘sex sells’ to their advantage, whether it be female or male, objectification will continue to be used in advertising campaigns. In the case of the SUISTUDIO brand, they have definitely made a mark in the marketing world, sparked controversy and caused debates on every social media platform with the claim that they are definitely #NOTDRESSINGMEN.
CRITICAL JOURNAL 