The last time my mom and I hung out together wearing skimpy lingerie was never. It's just not the relationship we have. In fact, I'd venture to guess that it's not the kind of relationship any mother and daughter have, but New York lingerie company The Lake and Stars wants this bizarre concept to be at the front on everyone's mind. In their provocative ad, a gray-haired woman and her young, red-headed daughter are pictured in seductive, sexy poses virtually on top of one another.
Fox News is up in arms because they think it portrays incest, but I'm against it for a way simpler reason: It's weird.
As a woman I don't get it, as a daughter I don't get it, and as a lingerie consumer I don't get it. Absolutely no part of me understands what this ad is trying to achieve, well, besides publicity, of course. I mean, I'm talking about it, so obviously they won on some level.
But over-the-top provocative ads for publicity sake just seem cheap and lazy. Take the Benetton ad that's Photoshopped Obama kissing Chinese president Hu Jintao on the lips. The clothing retailer has always danced on the line of appropriate and not appropriate advertisements, but this, like The Lake and Stars one, just seems like they're being weird for weird's sake. There's nothing particularly poignant about either ad; they're about as subtle as a dump truck going through my living room.
It occurred to me, though, that the lingerie ad is probably targeted at men who buy the sexy stuff for their lady lovers. I suppose if they're titillated (god I hate that word) enough by the ripped mother-daughter duo to spend some cash on the product, I guess that means that the ad men did their job. Because I'm sure as hell this ad isn't supposed to inspire women to break out their wallets.
What do you think of the lingerie ad?
Photos via thelakeandstars.com