"Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need." – Will Rogers

And the Award for Most Hypocritical Ad Agency Goes To…

Posted: November 18th, 2009 | Author: elena | Filed under: TV commercials, adbusting, advertising, body, change for the better, corporate hypocrisy, discrimination, exploitation, objectification, schizophrenic messages, self-image | 1 Comment »

These awful, über-sexist Reebok EasyTone ads were conceived by the ad agency DDB Chicago:

Now, if you go to DDB’s official website you will notice some interesting quotes:

“Values”

(Who We Are > Roots)

Respect for Our World

As influential communicators, DDB is in a position to use creativity as a force for good. As Bill Bernbach so eloquently put it, “All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.”

(emphasis mine)

Interesting. Could you watch the commercials one more time, keeping in mind the above statement? Don’t you notice a huge disconnect?

To complain to DDB for the aforementioned ads you can contact Jeff Swystun, DDB Chief Communications Officer : Jeff.Swystun@ddb.com or address something to him, in 140 characters or less, to his Twitter account: @JeffSwystun

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One Comment on “And the Award for Most Hypocritical Ad Agency Goes To…”

  1. #1 Tweets that mention The Illusionists » Blog Archive » And the Award for Most Hypocritical Ad Agency Goes To… -- Topsy.com said at 5:01 pm on November 18th, 2009:

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Illusionists, Melissa Wardy. Melissa Wardy said: RT @illusionists Award for Most Hypocritical Ad Agency Goes To…DDB Chicago, responsible for the uber-sexist Reebok ads http://ow.ly/Dn6w [...]

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