Grant 1

Bea Grant
Prof. C. Bevill
ENG 1301-21
November 5, 2014
Sex in Advertisement, a Controversy that Pays Off
Analyzing the photograph of the fifty foot tall (James) billboard for the Calvin Klein
Jeans in SoHo, New York, the first thing that comes to mind is sex. In this billboard
photography, done by Steven Meisel, there is a very young woman, topless, lying on top of a
young man but kissing another. The three are topless on the couch while another man is lying on
the floor, shirt open and with a satisfied expression on his face. All of them wearing jeans, hers is
just a small short. This advertisement suggests that a threesome or maybe even a foursome is
taking place. Sex could be the theme, suggesting that if you wear the jeans, it could bring you
more sex appeal.
The billboard was placed on an urban environment with buses and taxis traffic, and
where pedestrians cross the street, facing the ad. It is a well-known corner street, Houston St. and
Lafayette St., where numerous CK provocative billboards have been displayed over the years.
This corner is located in SoHo, Manhattan, named after its location, being South of Houston St.
SoHo is known for the upscale stores and the number of artists, tourists and commerce
(Wikipedia), giving the billboard a great exposure.
The audience seems to be the young adult.
In this photograph, a dark image of a woman, conservatively dressed, is centered and in
the foreground. This image brings the attention to this add as the woman seems to be staring at
the billboard while speaking on a cell phone, perhaps calling someone regarding the shocking

Grant 2
picture. The photograph of the young people suggestively engaging in sex could shock some
Americans, since America is considered a conservative country. With that said, an American flag
is seen showing on a bus window, while a man casually walks buy with his headphone on,
seeming to disregard it all. The man is wearing comfortable clothing, nothing formal or business
like. Maybe that means he is a tourist or just passing by not paying attention, or the ad does not
shock him. The whole billboard scenario was in neutral color with the couch, being the jeans and
skin color the most contrast you can notice, while the rest of the picture shows a bright yellow
taxi, a dark image of a woman staring at the billboard, and the man and street on foreground
along with the bus.
The ad is very sexually provocative; it gives fuel to the audiences imagination. In the
photograph, the way that the young man is kissing the girl, suggest vulgarity, not just a romantic
kiss. It seems steamy and edgy to some. Furthermore, the girl is lying topless on another guy,
what can suggest a threesome. The fourth person, a guy lying in the floor in a sexy pose, can
suggest a foursome. The ad has been called edgy and shocking (James), risqu, steamy and
borderline pornographic (Armaghan).
Some people did have a moral issue with this ad; The Rev. Don Wildmon, founder of the
American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, was quoted saying that he was
disappointed with the billboard, and that "It shows a lack of respect for our society, especially for
young people," He also stated that all the advertisement companies care for is money, and they
use sex to get it. The group started a boycott campaign against the CK Company (Armaghan).
When asked, a spokesman for Calvin Klein stated that their intention was to create a very
sexy campaign that would attract their intended demographic target (Armaghan), and they
seemed to have achieved that, due to the success of the brand.

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The controversy can bring attention to the ad and gain free advertisement, as it seems to
have done here: Susan James from ABC News wrote: And now, once again, the fashion
company is shocking and titillating passersby with a new ad campaign in New York City's Soho
neighborhood, a place where young mothers with strollers mingle with artists and hipsters.,
bringing up again the moral issue and outcry for families values in the neighborhood. Other
websites also comment on the billboard controversy such as, NY Daily news, CBS News.
Calvin Klein has a history of controversy on its advertisements. Here in the USA, there
was the ad with Brooke Shields, just 15 years old at the time in 1980, where she stated; "Do you
know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing. This ad caused a lot of complaining
about her age and the exposure she was having (Armaghan). Most of Calvin Kleins ads suggest
that the ad campaign is really about causing controversy. Controversy seems to generate free
advertising; when all the media and audience start talking about the subject. The risk of
controversy seems to pay off, and because of, or despite of, the controversial ads continue.
The website directed to male viewers, Complex.com, reports some of the most
controversial CK ads; there is the ad of Kate Moss and a young seventeen years old Mark
Whahlberg, where she straddles topless on him and side by side, another picture of Moss on
her underwear and topless next to Whahlberg; the Brooke Shields ad where she says nothing
comes between her and her Calvin; a 1993 ad of Moss very thin advertising for C.K. perfume
Obsession, which some called a reflective of a heroin chic, glamorizing the drug use. Some ads
were called child pornography, as the one in 1995, with a young man posing in what looks like a
basement, and the Justice Department was forced to investigate, later dropping the case.
The advertisement on this SoHo billboard was so successful that many others have
followed at the same location, and as provocative.

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It seems that no matter how people react, disgusted or loving it, the use of sexy images in
the Calvin Klein advertisement works. The brand has been successful for many years in the
United States.

Grant 5
Works Cited
Armaghan, Sarah. Calvin Klein 'threesome' billboard in SoHo too sexy, say some. NY Daily
News, 15 June 2009. NY Daily News.com 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Chacko, Rebecca. The Mystery of Sex in Advertising. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, 2009.
Mhlearningsolutions.com. nd. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
Edwards, Jim. Calvin Klein banned orgy ad is part of predictable fake controversy trend. CBS
News. cbsnews.com, 29 Jan. 2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
James, Susan Donaldson. Calvin Klein Ad Taps Foursome Sex. ABC news Internet Ventures
2014. Abc.go.com, 17 June 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
Lockwood, Lisa. Fashion Advertising: Controversy Where Has It Gone? Fairchild
Publishing, LLC (2014). Womens Wear Daily.com, 28 July 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Sanchez, Karizza. The Most Controversial Calvin Klein Ads. Complex Media Inc.
Complexmedia. 7 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
SoHo, Manhattan.Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 12 Nov. 2014. Web 15 Nov. 2014.