2008 Woodie Awards
Lecturer discusses sex and violence in advertising
By: Kirk Watkins
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Lifestyle
- Page 1 of 2 next >
As the man in the front of the classroom moved his hands and his body back and forth, and his hands up and down, a low murmur swept through the enraptured and captivated crowd. His movements caused the shapes and images that were being broadcast on the movie screen to the audience to jump, sway, spin and flicker.
"I've never seen anything like it," said a voice from the audience, as the images continued their dance.
It was Nov. 7, in Sverdrup Room 123, and the Friday Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of Art was in full effect as creative director and lead designer John Dames from St. Louis based coreaudiovisual, a producer of advertising content, enlightened the room full of future artists with word from around the world of advertising.
He spoke about the world of advertising and described trends blurring the lines between art and commercial advertising.
The lecture hall was packed to capacity; over 100 students had come to witness the spectacle, some sitting on the floor because no more seats remained. They absorbed the multimedia display as Dames showcased the product his company produced.
The reception for Dames' work was mostly positive during the presentation. However, there was a contentious moment when a few of the students and Dames disagreed about the use of sex and violence in advertising.
It was during a segment that was produced for Masserati and was more reminiscent of a foreign art house film than a commercial. In it, images flashed of a beautiful, writhing, scantily clad woman sweating and breathing deeply as a man in a suit seemed to go through the gates of hell and redemption, all in about two minutes of footage.
Some of the students in the audience took exception to the seemingly gratuitous use of sexual and violent images in advertising in general, and in this case particularly.
The connection to the product was, according to Dames, seeking to capture the struggle between good and evil, and struggle of mankind. Throughout the lecture, in fact, the commercials continued to draw on the religious, biological and historical, as well as the standard sex and violence in ways that were more reminiscent of film noir or cinema-vérité than any of our modern commercials. His contention was the students who were offended by the use of sex and violence in order to sell products had more of a reaction towards the system than any personal reaction to his work.
"I've never seen anything like it," said a voice from the audience, as the images continued their dance.
It was Nov. 7, in Sverdrup Room 123, and the Friday Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of Art was in full effect as creative director and lead designer John Dames from St. Louis based coreaudiovisual, a producer of advertising content, enlightened the room full of future artists with word from around the world of advertising.
He spoke about the world of advertising and described trends blurring the lines between art and commercial advertising.
The lecture hall was packed to capacity; over 100 students had come to witness the spectacle, some sitting on the floor because no more seats remained. They absorbed the multimedia display as Dames showcased the product his company produced.
The reception for Dames' work was mostly positive during the presentation. However, there was a contentious moment when a few of the students and Dames disagreed about the use of sex and violence in advertising.
It was during a segment that was produced for Masserati and was more reminiscent of a foreign art house film than a commercial. In it, images flashed of a beautiful, writhing, scantily clad woman sweating and breathing deeply as a man in a suit seemed to go through the gates of hell and redemption, all in about two minutes of footage.
Some of the students in the audience took exception to the seemingly gratuitous use of sexual and violent images in advertising in general, and in this case particularly.
The connection to the product was, according to Dames, seeking to capture the struggle between good and evil, and struggle of mankind. Throughout the lecture, in fact, the commercials continued to draw on the religious, biological and historical, as well as the standard sex and violence in ways that were more reminiscent of film noir or cinema-vérité than any of our modern commercials. His contention was the students who were offended by the use of sex and violence in order to sell products had more of a reaction towards the system than any personal reaction to his work.
Be the first to comment on this story