Selling Shoes: Part 2, Women's Shoes

Caution: Contains images and content that may offend

I was going to illustrate the beginning of this post with a pic of some simple women's shoes.  Then I recalled that when Kate had tried on some shoes in the Broadway Shopping Centre in Sydney recently, I browsed the shelves.   I was astonished to see women's shoes that resembled illegal lethal weapons, shoes that looked like these:

Do women actually buy these?

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Continuing the topic of ads and shoes, I mentioned last week that a lot of the fail ads for men’s shoes were based on sex, portraying male fantasies about women and male dominance, in the process objectifying women. I also mentioned that in contrast,  a lot of women’s shoe advertising have not only incorporated sex, they have also stressed violence and empowerment. 

A 2010 US study by two female researchers found that violent fashion campaign images were more appealing to female viewers than visually pleasing ads. Although the study was too small to be regarded as authoritative or to enable conclusions to be drawn, only 18 women having been interviewed and surveyed, there was a hypothesis put forward that some women projected themselves into the ads as part of a fiction story. According to ScienceBlog.com: “[The researchers] found that in addition to expected modes of engagement with ads, some women approached fashion advertisement as a type of fiction. These women would be transported into the story world set in motion by the ad’s pictures, asking themselves, ‘What is happening here?’ and ‘What will happen next?’ ” 

http://www.thefrisky.com/2010-04-20/study-shows-violent-fashion-ads-lure-consumers-but-is-that-all/#more-687622 

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Duncan Quinn drew the ire of a cross section of the community, not just feminist organisations, for what was termed the Most Disturbing Ad of the Year in 2008, an ad for suits with an image of a man who appears to have strangled a woman who is clad only in underwear on the bonnet of a car: 

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Whether the ads have been created by men or by women is unknown but, in the end, it is unimportant, it is the content that counts.  You decide on whether these ads are okay, inappropriate or just plain creepy. . . 

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Mark Jacobs, mild sexism, possible corpse depiction:

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Sexism by women, for women... 

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Ever notice the similarity between a stiletto heel and a stiletto blade? Even CSI had a murder by stiletto heel. 

If it still isn’t clear, then maybe this ad, captioned “Killer Heels by NMA”, will help... 

The ad resulted in complaints to the regulatory authority. The advertisers argued that the ad was a play on the words “Killer Heels” and that they had deliberately sought to avoid giving offence by making the pic unrealistic by making the man small and the heel large. Great defence. 

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Another way to highlight shoes in an ad... 

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Luciano Carvari ad for boots: 

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An Australian ad for hosiery, rather than shoes, that was the subject of complaints to the Advertising Standards Board. Some complainants argued that if the ad had been reversed – that a man was leading naked women on a lead – there would have been outrage. 

The determination by the Board was that: 

“The Board considered that while some people clearly had different perceptions of the advertisement, it represented a satirical comment on a patriarchal world. It determined that, as such, the content of the advertisement did not contravene the Code in relation to either the portrayal of people or the portrayal of sex, sexuality and/or nudity.” 

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In 2007 Dolce and Gabanna launched their spring/summer collection with an infamous ad for shoes that was widely condemned as being suggestive of gang rape: 

The ad was banned by Italy and Spain. D & G responded that the objectors were "a bit backward". 

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Melbourne shoe sellers Loula also took flak for a fashion advertising campaign that depicted shoes on corpses and victims. 

Loula spokesman Jason Zurzolo said the noir campaign - featuring women digging graves and standing over chalk outlines - was never intended to offend. "Every woman desires great shoes. It's just a theme on what women will do for shoes," said Mr Zurzolo. 

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Lamode Fashion Footwear ads that depicted the shoes on corpses under the caption "The Last Wish" drew similar criticisms in 2011. The suggestion in the ads was that the only thing that matters when one dies is to be look good in Lamode shoes. 

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Some more dead body shoe advertising, this time by Jimmy Choo. But hey, it it's non discriminatory, there is one dead female and one dead male... 

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"Advertising is a racket, like the movies and the brokerage business. You cannot be honest without admitting that its constructive contribution to humanity is exactly minus zero."

- F Scott Fitzgerald

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