Racy Virgin causes problems

Andy Lo thinks people should lighten up

SEX sells. The advertising companies know it, we the consumers know it. Yet somehow the new enthralling Virgin Atlantic advertising campaign, which marks the airline’s 25^th anniversary, has managed to garner 29 complaints. The advert, set in 1984, opens with a newspaper vendor selling the story of a miner’s strike whilst a Yuppie carrying a brick mobile phone converses with a business partner. As the young businessman enters the airport he is stopped short by the dazzling sight of an entourage of gorgeous airhostesses dressed in vivid red accompanying a pilot. They walk through a dull coloured airport to the soundtrack of Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and seemingly amass the attention of all males in the crowd. One man, eating a burger, accidently manages to drop ketchup all over himself whilst watching the parade. As it draws to a close one businessman says to his colleague ‘I need to change my job’ whilst the other replies ‘I need to change my ticket’. The advert finally signs off with the line ’25 Years Still Red Hot’.

The majority of the complaints that the ASA received stated that the advert objectified women and presented a stereotypical view of the genders. The ASA has already ruled in favor of Virgin Atlantic who stated, ‘we considered that most viewers would understand that the ad presented exaggerated stereotypical views of the early 1980s and played upon perceived attitudes of that time in a humorous way.’

I am in accordance with the ASA ruling. It is apparent to me, and the majority of people who watched the advert, that Virgin’s objective was to parody a bygone era using hyperbolized stereotypes in an amusing and entertaining fashion. Its nature was very clearly tongue-in-cheek and so I believe that those that complained have missed the point and need to lighten up.

Yet even if the advert had been set in the present day I would have still taken a dim view of those that contacted the ASA. Using attractive men and women to sell products and services is nothing new. It is a marketing tool that has worked extremely well for some companies and I feel as long as it stays within the confines of good taste I do not see any cause for concern. I for one, will remember this advert a lot longer than I will remember any of the British Airways commercials.

If we are to question the apparently sexist attitudes of using attractive women in advertising then perhaps we should also query the similar methods in which men are sometimes portrayed. The well-known Diet Coke advert, for example, features a hunky lift engineer being ogled by a group of excited office women; whilst a recent commercial for Aero showed a half naked Jason Lewis (from Sex and the City) strutting around eating a chocolate seductively. I wonder how many complaints of sexism were registered in those cases. In addition the Virgin Atlantic advert also included a handsome male pilot, who exchanges glances with a woman in the airport crowd. This seemed to be completely ignored by those who complained.

When compared to European advert culture, where racy commercialism is the norm, the Virgin Atlantic campaign appears pale in comparison. The 29 people who complained to the ASA would probably have a heart attack if they watched continental television. I recently viewed a Danish advert for Siemens on the Internet, which showed hundreds of naked women skydiving out of a plane. It was selling washing machines. Whilst I am not insinuating that we become as permissive as Europe when it comes to showing sex and nudity on television, I believe the overly politically correct disposition that a few individuals possess needs to be dropped and a more liberal attitude adopted.

I just think that Virgin Atlantic’s advert is, like the airhostesses, a golden ray of light in this dark, gloomy time of economic recession. It is just a shame that air travel as no longer as glamorous or as exciting as it was depicted.