This NSFW Sexist Ad Campaign Is The WORST

You'd think that the trend of treating women's bodies as decorative objects in advertisements would be played out by now, but it turns out some people think it's classic. In fact the new ads from men's clothing makers I Love Ugly are so sexist — and frankly gross, not to mention NSFW — that it's kind of hard to understand who thought they'd be a good idea, let alone who approved them.

Of course, sexist advertising is nothing new. From vintage ads right up until the present day, Mad Men -style sexism in advertising is still very much a thing. There are sexist Super Bowl ads, sexist political ads, sexist beer advertising, sexist anti-DUI campaigns, sexist shoe campaigns, sexist fast food ads, sexist computer ads, even sexist ads for children. And that's not even getting into the ads that are not just sexist but racist, too. But if the mountain of examples aren't enough to convince you, science also finds that commercials treat women as voiceless.

Basically, someday our ads are going to seem just as ridiculous and offensive to the people of the future as vintage ads seem to us today.

But even by the low, low standards already set by the industry, New Zealand men's clothing makers I Love Ugly went out of their way to objectify women in their ad campaign for their new line of men's jewelry.

For example, these images, which do not appear on the company website, but were posted on website High Snobiety. (And again, note they are NSFW.)

Or this image which still appears on the group's Facebook page, despite the backlash the campaign provoked.

Needless to say, people are not amused.

Following the backlash, the company posted a new photo in the same style, but this time with two male models.

Though honestly I'm not sure that substituting the skewed power dynamics of a fully dressed man putting his hands on a naked woman for the skewed power dynamics of a fully dressed white man putting his hands on a naked black man is really an improvement. Just saying.

As of press time, the company has not issued an apology through any social media account, though they did refer to the backlash on Facebook as a "kerfuffle."

Sadly, this will probably not be the last time advertisers try to use women's bodies to sell products. Which is unfortunate, because women's bodies are not objects and should not be treated as such. And maybe someday, advertisers will finally understand that.

You can find more examples of the advertisements on High Snobiety here.

Images: Wikipedia Commons; High Snobiety (2)