Original ad

American fashion brand Calvin Klein launched their new Spring 2016 campaign called I_ in #mycalvins featuring some of the biggest celebrities in the entertainment industry, for instance, Justin Bieber, Kendal Jenner etc. With millions of followers on the social media, this campaign earned waves of attention instantaneously after its launch and it did not take too long for the public to acknowledge the problem lays within this campaign; sexuality, objectivity, double standards etc.

Among all the images that were unveiled to the public, one ad particularly caught my attention. This billboard combines two individual campaign ads from Danish model and actress Klara Kristin and rapper Fetty Wap. The image on the left exhibits Kristin dressing in a see-through dress, revealing a black bra, underwear underneath and posing provocatively alongside the tagline “I seduce in #mycalvins.: Adjacent to Kristin’s image is Fetty Wap’s face with the tagline “I make money in #mycalvins.”

The moment I saw this billboard I immediately distinguished the double standards this ad tried to convey. Moreover, where this billboard was located, New York City Soho, also makes feel very unpleasant. It is more than clear that this billboard ad strives to send this double standard message to hundreds of thousands of people that pass by Soho neighborhood everyday that women are nothing more than sexual objects, while men are the one who can make money. In my perspective, Calvin Klein Spring 2016 campaign has utilized a lot of controversial images to promote its products but this billboard is definitely crossed the line. I first do not like the way women are being portrayed as nothing but a sexual object furthermore, I am also disgusted by the gender stereotype this billboard conveyed. It is astonishing that Women has won the right to vote nearly a hundred years ago and yet this campaign still utilized such antiquated stereotype. In my opinion women can be anything she wants to be and do not let these stereotype gets you, we need to create our own gender definitions.

My Jammed version of the ad

In my attempt of reconstructing the original Calvin Klein billboard, which showcases the double standards and outdated gender stereotype, I crossed out the original slogan and instead I explicitly stating that “I have been minimized to a piece of meet dressed in #mycalvins (tasty seasoning)” as the new tagline for this billboard.  By doing that, I utilized an analogy to refer Kristin as the meat in the meat shop, who is ready for picking up by the men. As for Fetty Wap’s image, I added shadowed “POWER” on his face to emphasise how powerful men are and that is exactly what this billboard tried to convey; empowering men by being repulsive towards to women. In my perspective, my jammed version of advertisement gives people a more visually presentable idea of how gender stereotype is being utilized in this campaign. Moreover, through this advertisement, the audience can be aware how gender stereotype is still rooted in the society.