Aren’t Hunky Dorys advertisements the same as every other ad on the television and in the papers?
As I write, the IRFU is unhappy with the new ads that show half-naked women posing provocatively on rugby pitches. The uproar began when the IRFU noticed that below the ad, the text reads that Hunky Dorys are proudly supporting Irish rugby.
Maybe I’m deluded, but as an Irish woman who looks at television and reading magazines, it appears to me that almost every company does the same. It doesn’t matter if they’re advertising chocolate or petrol; a woman is used to sell that product.
I think it’s because I have become so used to this advertising trick that this doesn’t frustrate or that I don’t even notice these ads. I think this is the worst part, that I didn’t notice immediately the explicit nature of the ads.
If I was living in the sixties and saw these ads, I would be out marching on the streets, but in 2010 I just laugh a little at how silly these are.
Women were and are created daily as an object that attracts men towards one product or another, be it something to do with women, or not. I understand why the advertising giants tend to rely on this format as it sells products, but I feel that some of the companies’ ethics are being forgotten. Relying on the same trick also lacks creativity – a trait that marketing companies pride themselves on.
You can be sure that these types of marketing campaigns are doing no good to anyone. Women are imagined as objects for selling products, by showing off their bodies. Not only that, but that body must look a certain way.
That message is accepted by the general public and then women are angry at men and insulted by their twisted perceptions of women. Irreversible damage is also done to women – young women in particular who are vulnerable to the media. These young women begin to follow the examples set down by these advertising campaigns, something that’s not natural.
Be that as it may, if Hunky Dorys are selling more crisps because of these advertisements, I really don’t think they’ll care about a young woman and her identity.
Siún Ní Dhuinn is a writer and lecturer at UCD
