Honestly, it puts me off completely. I’m a woman and this is what gaming used to be: women are sluts. The ad isn’t even trying to be clever or anything. Like wtf is this this trying to say?
No, the imagery was supposed to invoke the rave culture at the time. Lots of men, women, boys, and girls doing X, and the pills usually were white like that.
And why is it a “trashy hot” woman despite the target audience being 99% young men at the time? This is what I mean. The ad speaks to a target audience that is not on the poster.
Oh, she’s trashy? Why? Please don’t tell us you did not get whooshed by the ad now.
The ad has combined the image of putting tablets on a womans tongue, while also having her in a pose with tongue out that is also used to imply the desire to perform oral sex. This is highlighted by the fact she is looking up, with the camera focused on her face.
That said, I’m guessing here, but I’m sure as hell not going to tell a woman she’s not allowed to be offended by sexualization of another woman to sell Playstations.
Yeah, so you can see the logos forming the pattern of the face buttons on the pills.
This is highlighted by the fact she is looking up, with the camera focused on her face.
becausw she’s getting high, this is really common “being high” imagery. That’s even why it looks slightly sexual: orgasms are just a different kind of high.
but I’m sure as hell not going to tell a woman she’s not allowed to be offended by sexualization of another woman to sell Playstations.
Nobody said she can’t be, they just pointed out her reasoning doesn’t really hold much water, because it doesn’t. People can feel however they want about something, none of us can stop them.
When i saw this ad, all i thought was ecstasy, rave and playstation. Not “women are sluts” or anything like it. If i didn’t get the reference, i probably would think the same about the ad as her. I don’t think she got the reference, not after her initial comment.
Tongue out with ecstasy on is something you would see at raves. The eyes up is odd i give you that, that’s made to look submissive, and sure there are sexual connotations, advertisers are clever.
But raves were also not some sterile asexual gatherings either. I don’t know.
Tongue out with ecstasy on is something you would see at raves. The eyes up is odd i give you that, that’s made to look submissive, and sure there are sexual connotations, advertisers are clever.
Yeah exactly, but also come on everyone, ecstasy is a drug that tends to make you want to fuck. So I think the ad -> sluttiness could be from, and I’m guessing here, that she’s in a submissive pose that just so happens to be identical to a sexual one, taking a drug that makes one want to fuck, and that’s her ‘role’ in this ad.
That said, you’ll notice not a single person asking the woman who posted why she saw it that way, they just jumped to tell her she’s wrong.
So @stufkes@lemmy.world , on behalf of men on lemmy, I’m sorry you got this reaction. I really hope at least one person in this thread goes “Wait… I don’t see it as problematic, but someone else does. Maybe I should understand why?”
It’s edgy marketing. You’re not wrong it’s also clearly sexualizing her, but they’re pushing a console like a party drug.
On the one hand, it’s a very dated ad, on the other I really wish marketing companies would do weird shit like this more. Just maybe with a bit less sex appeal?
There’s nothing wrong with sex appeal. Removing sex appeal, drugs, whatever else is how you get boring corpo bullshit ads instead of edgy corpo bullshit ads.
Nah this is still corpo bullshit. It’s also one of the tamer specimens of that era. The only difference is, the corpos in charge of advertising at that time were all sentient hardons who heard stories about how drugs are and peaked at 14. None of them lived in the real world and they just churned out knee-jerk sexist bullshit because they wanted to appeal to boys going through puberty and men that never left that headspace.
<rant>
A lot of the ads from that era are uncomfortable. Hell, a lot of the games were. It was rare to see a female character that wasn’t ditzy and helpless, a thinly-veiled copy of the writer’s mom, or exactly like a dude but hot. Those were the options. I’m not saying I needed every game to be a work of great literature with complex and tormented characters and copious backstory; I just wanted female characters in games that didn’t like someone doing a ventriloquism act with their fleshlight.
I ended up chasing gameplay and trying to ignore how fucking awkward and immature most of the shooters were in that era and I don’t think I was alone. I think a lot of gamers grew up and drove the market in a slightly more mature direction. Some people blame woke bullshit, but for me it was just being utterly sick of how fucking juvenile everything was and voting with my money. There’s still a vocal minority out there that wants the good old days back, but I’d stop playing if the industry went back to exclusively 3xtr33m l33t 4ct10n d00d bullshit.
Sidenote: I played the demo for some Cliffy B game a decade ago on my XBox and hard-quit and deleted when the guy on my comms told me to “fire a rocket directly up the bad guy’s poop chute.” I was in my 30s and Cliff was probably pushing 40 at the time. What the hell? Are we nine years old again? Then again, he was the guy that threw his cat into his scanner and posted a picture of it every day until the internet told him to stop. Ugh. Let’s never go back there.
</rant>
None of them lived in the real world and they just churned out knee-jerk sexist bullshit because they wanted to appeal to boys going through puberty and men that never left that headspace.
It really took the industry a long time to get out of that, too. It was all through the early 2000’s, and people forget, also had wonderful shit like:
this, which should have taken that franchise down. People just gloss over it now like ‘oh yeah, haha, people were just like that back in… 2009!? Oh, shit, uh…’
(EDIT: Feel free to explain your downvote, you miss ads like this?)
Not the downvoter, but i appereciate how the punchline of the ad wasn’t explicitly spelled out, despite the punchline being “slur funny.”
I feel like we tolerated the assholes of the time because, immature though they were, they were the life of the party, which was “the point” of gaming for a demographic, to be the exact opposite of work in every way.
We need high-energy, charismatic, boundary pushing people if we want games that are fresh and innovative. Unfortunately, those tendencies can amplify the worst in us. But we don’t need to tolerate asholism for the sake of entertainment, its never worth it.
I feel like we tolerated the assholes of the time because, immature though they were, they were the life of the party, which was “the point” of gaming for a demographic, to be the exact opposite of work in every way.
Hard disagree there, particularly as someone who worked in the industry, has a gay kid, and worked with women in the industry. The ‘frat boy’ stuff was amusing to 13 year old fans, sure, but it was abusive, cruel, and awful to be anywhere near. There’s a billion different ways to achieve the same objective without being homophobic, sexist, etc, like say this masterpiece response to said ad.
They absolutely can. This just isn’t really one of them. Ads in the 90s all treated women as sex objects to be “played”. And this ad isnt wild in that regard, but you’re kidding yourself if you think they didn’t choose that angle and lighting deliberately.
Honestly, it puts me off completely. I’m a woman and this is what gaming used to be: women are sluts. The ad isn’t even trying to be clever or anything. Like wtf is this this trying to say?
Seriously, that is not the message this ad is putting out. It’s about PlayStation being a drug, like ecstasy pills
Your right it’s not clever but it’s pretty clear it’s nothing to do with woman being sluts.
You seriously can’t see how this is sexualizing women?
Not the OP, but I for once can’t. She’s not sexualized in any way.
Remove the pills on her tongue and this is your typical porn-shoot picture. Lucky you I guess for not seeing that.
No, the imagery was supposed to invoke the rave culture at the time. Lots of men, women, boys, and girls doing X, and the pills usually were white like that.
Did you just mansplain how to take this ad?
She asked a question. It was answered.
The ad is saying PlayStation is as good as drugs? I’m assuming that the little tabs are supposed to be exctacy or something.
Ecstasy.
Exactly
eccentric
And why is it a “trashy hot” woman despite the target audience being 99% young men at the time? This is what I mean. The ad speaks to a target audience that is not on the poster.
Oh, she’s trashy? Why? Please don’t tell us you did not get whooshed by the ad now.
The ad has combined the image of putting tablets on a womans tongue, while also having her in a pose with tongue out that is also used to imply the desire to perform oral sex. This is highlighted by the fact she is looking up, with the camera focused on her face.
That said, I’m guessing here, but I’m sure as hell not going to tell a woman she’s not allowed to be offended by sexualization of another woman to sell Playstations.
Yeah, so you can see the logos forming the pattern of the face buttons on the pills.
becausw she’s getting high, this is really common “being high” imagery. That’s even why it looks slightly sexual: orgasms are just a different kind of high.
Nobody said she can’t be, they just pointed out her reasoning doesn’t really hold much water, because it doesn’t. People can feel however they want about something, none of us can stop them.
Are you seriously implying this is the only pose you could use to show that off?
Ah, ok, I understand now.
No, don’t put words in other people’s mouths. Just because you read it as sexual does not mean that was the intention
Nobody’s been condescending but you, motherfucker.
Hahahhahahah
When i saw this ad, all i thought was ecstasy, rave and playstation. Not “women are sluts” or anything like it. If i didn’t get the reference, i probably would think the same about the ad as her. I don’t think she got the reference, not after her initial comment.
Tongue out with ecstasy on is something you would see at raves. The eyes up is odd i give you that, that’s made to look submissive, and sure there are sexual connotations, advertisers are clever.
But raves were also not some sterile asexual gatherings either. I don’t know.
Yeah exactly, but also come on everyone, ecstasy is a drug that tends to make you want to fuck. So I think the ad -> sluttiness could be from, and I’m guessing here, that she’s in a submissive pose that just so happens to be identical to a sexual one, taking a drug that makes one want to fuck, and that’s her ‘role’ in this ad.
That said, you’ll notice not a single person asking the woman who posted why she saw it that way, they just jumped to tell her she’s wrong.
So @stufkes@lemmy.world , on behalf of men on lemmy, I’m sorry you got this reaction. I really hope at least one person in this thread goes “Wait… I don’t see it as problematic, but someone else does. Maybe I should understand why?”
I should not have replied to her but kept to myself.
I don’t care about the ad, never was a gamer, just stumbled in here via all.
Why is this saying the woman is a prostitute?
What is wrong if she was one?
semi trolling.
“Playstation is a drug”
It’s edgy marketing. You’re not wrong it’s also clearly sexualizing her, but they’re pushing a console like a party drug.
On the one hand, it’s a very dated ad, on the other I really wish marketing companies would do weird shit like this more. Just maybe with a bit less sex appeal?
There’s nothing wrong with sex appeal. Removing sex appeal, drugs, whatever else is how you get boring corpo bullshit ads instead of edgy corpo bullshit ads.
Nah this is still corpo bullshit. It’s also one of the tamer specimens of that era. The only difference is, the corpos in charge of advertising at that time were all sentient hardons who heard stories about how drugs are and peaked at 14. None of them lived in the real world and they just churned out knee-jerk sexist bullshit because they wanted to appeal to boys going through puberty and men that never left that headspace.
<rant> A lot of the ads from that era are uncomfortable. Hell, a lot of the games were. It was rare to see a female character that wasn’t ditzy and helpless, a thinly-veiled copy of the writer’s mom, or exactly like a dude but hot. Those were the options. I’m not saying I needed every game to be a work of great literature with complex and tormented characters and copious backstory; I just wanted female characters in games that didn’t like someone doing a ventriloquism act with their fleshlight.
I ended up chasing gameplay and trying to ignore how fucking awkward and immature most of the shooters were in that era and I don’t think I was alone. I think a lot of gamers grew up and drove the market in a slightly more mature direction. Some people blame woke bullshit, but for me it was just being utterly sick of how fucking juvenile everything was and voting with my money. There’s still a vocal minority out there that wants the good old days back, but I’d stop playing if the industry went back to exclusively 3xtr33m l33t 4ct10n d00d bullshit.
Sidenote: I played the demo for some Cliffy B game a decade ago on my XBox and hard-quit and deleted when the guy on my comms told me to “fire a rocket directly up the bad guy’s poop chute.” I was in my 30s and Cliff was probably pushing 40 at the time. What the hell? Are we nine years old again? Then again, he was the guy that threw his cat into his scanner and posted a picture of it every day until the internet told him to stop. Ugh. Let’s never go back there. </rant>
It really took the industry a long time to get out of that, too. It was all through the early 2000’s, and people forget, also had wonderful shit like:
this, which should have taken that franchise down. People just gloss over it now like ‘oh yeah, haha, people were just like that back in… 2009!? Oh, shit, uh…’
(EDIT: Feel free to explain your downvote, you miss ads like this?)
Not the downvoter, but i appereciate how the punchline of the ad wasn’t explicitly spelled out, despite the punchline being “slur funny.”
I feel like we tolerated the assholes of the time because, immature though they were, they were the life of the party, which was “the point” of gaming for a demographic, to be the exact opposite of work in every way.
We need high-energy, charismatic, boundary pushing people if we want games that are fresh and innovative. Unfortunately, those tendencies can amplify the worst in us. But we don’t need to tolerate asholism for the sake of entertainment, its never worth it.
Hard disagree there, particularly as someone who worked in the industry, has a gay kid, and worked with women in the industry. The ‘frat boy’ stuff was amusing to 13 year old fans, sure, but it was abusive, cruel, and awful to be anywhere near. There’s a billion different ways to achieve the same objective without being homophobic, sexist, etc, like say this masterpiece response to said ad.
Listen I’m not going to respond to a woman saying an ad is gross and off putting by telling her to lighten up.
Why not? A woman can’t have a idiotic opinion? That’s sexist!
They absolutely can. This just isn’t really one of them. Ads in the 90s all treated women as sex objects to be “played”. And this ad isnt wild in that regard, but you’re kidding yourself if you think they didn’t choose that angle and lighting deliberately.
Counter point: sex appeal is fine.
It’s the people who are pushy irl who are the problem. IMO you can still be very “sexy” and as long as you don’t push it, that’s not a problem.
Said to another commenter as well, but listen I’m not going to respond to a woman saying an ad is gross and off putting by telling her to lighten up.
Go ahead. Down votes are meaningless here.
Edit: keep em coming gargles
It’s not even a real ad, btw.
Ayyyooo you don’t hafta be a slut to love MDMA
If you see this girl as a slut, that’s a you issue lol. Might want to do some therapy about that.
It was a serious problem for a long time. Late 90’s/early 2000’s E3 and game shows were greasy.
I remember gaming magazines running whole sections just on the “best booth babes” of the season.
The answers to your comments are depressing. Good luck with everything!