Coca Cola and Fairlife have come under fire for a series of sexist adverts for a new premium brand of milk.
The ads feature retro pin up girls half naked and covered in milk. The milk hugs the women’s bodies in the shape of very skimpy outfits, combining the sexist trope of scantily clad women in sexy poses with the equally sexist trope of women doused in liquid to reveal their figures.
The images are then overlaid with a series of sexist taglines, including “drink what she’s wearing” and “better milk looks good on you”.
The adverts objectify women’s bodies in a manner so obvious and gratuitous it is both offensive and insulting. These images take us back to days where women’s bodies were paraded around as objects used to sell products, with the implication being the women are for sale themselves.
The way in which these ads objectify and commodify women’s bodies removes all agency from the women themselves. The slogan “drink what she’s wearing” implies the woman’s body, and her clothes, serve the sole purpose of pleasing the consumer (to say nothing of the fact that it disregards the distinct possibility that the women would like to continue wearing what she’s wearing, and not have it removed by the drinker).
There appears to be no connection between the racy images and the product itself, making it obvious the campaign really was just informed by the “sex sells” advertising ideology. The good news is the Twitterverse condemned the adverts immediately and Coca Cola was forced to withdraw the campaign. As we have seen a number of times in recent weeks, the global consensus on social media has managed to rein in sexism, sending a very clear message to Coca Cola that this kind of objectification will no longer be tolerated.
Unfortunately, the statement issued by the company made it obvious that that particular message was not clearly received.
“In June, we concluded two test markets in Denver and Minneapolis. The test markets allowed Fairlife to learn what was working and what we needed to improve for the upcoming national launch… The “pin-ups” advertising may have been eye-catching, but we’re taking a totally new approach,” the statement read.
What the advertisers failed to understand is that they were not being criticised because the campaign was “not working”, they were being criticised because the campaign was offensive and unacceptable – regardless of how “eye catching” it may have been.
It is heartening that when Coca Cola “tested the market” with sexist advertisements, they failed. But what we really need is for advertisers, business and governments to understand what it is they are being forced to apologise for; perhaps then campaigns like this would stop appearing in the first place.
As Laura Bates writes, this campaign makes it obvious some sections of the advertising and corporate worlds are sliding backwards when it comes to sexism. On the other hand, the voice of the public on social media is definitely pulling forwards and holding people to account. The critical question is, who will end up winning this tug of war?