Culture Jam

The advertisement I chose was released by the shoe company John White. It depicts a grayscale figure of a naked woman suggestively holding a men’s, leather shoe. The strategic placement of the shoe replaces what would be her genitals. The woman holds the shoe as if she is inviting the viewer to place their foot inside, undoubtedly suggesting the entrance of “something else” in the meantime. Not only does this ad use the female body as an object of male attention, but it reinforces an imbalanced power dynamic where males are served by females. The nude woman is offering to put on the consumer’s shoe; a ridiculous and unnecessary action, especially since the shoe is that of a fully grown man. The colorless female in contrast to the colorized shoe ingrains the notion that the woman herself is dismissable and what is highlighted (the metaphorical genitals,) are the most important aspect, again, further establishing the theme of sexual objectification. The company’s target demographic are men who are willing to spend more on a handmade shoe, as well as a brand, feeding into the prestige facade in addition to the blatant sexism. It is clear that John White markets to older men, seen by the mature style of the shoe and then by extension, those with antiquated beliefs about gender roles.

It is important to note that female sexuality is not the topic of my criticism, nor is any sexual “roleplay” that may occur between consenting adults. There is an appropriate setting for this scenario, hence my decision to simply alter what the advertisement is selling. To jam the advertisement, I switched the John White logo to the Porn Hub logo and the slogan “made by hand” to “foot fetishes and all.” This emphasizes the misuse of an explicitly sexual scenario and sheds light onto how desensitized consumers are to seeing sexual objectification of women. The original ad suggests a dynamic in which men hold more power than women in an “everyday” setting, but in my jammed version, the power dynamic is sexual and within a sexual setting, with a slightly comedic addition of fetishes. In this case, the power dynamic is more ambiguous as sexual scenarios can involve submissive and dominant roleplay, fetishes, or kinks, where the female is consenting to a fantasy or mythical scenario. Although I disagree with many aspects of modern-day pornography, the implication of the jammed ad is the issue of normalizing the depiction of the female body in such degrading and erotic manner. It reminds consumers that the use of female bodies to sell products is corruptly entrenched in today’s marketing and the only place where a person should be sexualized, is in a sexual scenario. Ideally, the image of the nude female would not be used as an advertisement at all, but logos for “consensual kinky sex in the privacy of your own home” do not exist. This is why the logo for a popular porn website effectively demonstrates the absurdity of a female being positioned and displayed in this way to sell a brand of shoe.