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nipples! on a billboard!! in toronto!!!

March 16th, 2007     by Thea Lim     Comments

Has anybody who lives in Toronto seen those billboard ads for Bleuforet tights? I scoured the internet for pictures of them, but they’re nowhere to be found, so I’ll just have to describe them. There’s a series of ads, and in each a sweet young thing in brightly coloured tights and a white sweater bounces in mid-air above a bed. Pretty run of the mill, except that the sweet young things are wearing transparent sweaters.

The first time I saw one of these ads, I actually got off my bike to stare at the ad to make sure that what I was seeing was truly, ahem, nipple, and not just a dirt smudge or my imagination.

The thing is, I just can’t figure out what to think of these ads. I could just say it’s another case of plain old conventionally beautiful women being used to sell products, in a way that 1) dehumanises the model and 2) makes anyone who doesn’t look like them feel anxious about their self-image.

Except for the fact that we live in a country where our unholy fear of our own bodies has created a pretty sick sexual culture. So does that mean that an ad that showcases boobies in such an off-hand, casual, un-pornographic way is a good thing?

I’m confused. Does anyone else have thoughts?

Tags: media savvy

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