French christian louboutin manufacturer Eram SA has either reached the ultimate in politically correct advertising, or is cynically mocking the recent protests in France against advertisers’ exploitation of women. Let the customer be the judge.
In a new campaign, France’s largest christian louboutin shoes maker has put its name to a series of posters depicting an ostrich, a naked man and a tubular steel chair, each time clad in nothing but a pair of Eram christian shoes. The ads all sport the tagline: "No woman’s body has been exploited in this advertisement."
Whether holier-than-thou, or tongue-in-cheek, that tagline is a clear reference to the recent outrage among French women’s rights activists over a spate of sexually charged luxury goods ads that explore the boundary between sensuality and pornography.
"Today, a woman’s image is the big debate in advertising. We wanted to provide an ironic take on it," says the man behind the latest campaign, Benoît Devarrieux, head of Devarrieuxvillaret, a unit of Havas Advertising’s Arnold Partners agency.
The commercial message that Eram wants to get across is quite straightforward: High-fashion louboutin shoes at a low price for a mass market of women of all ages. Each poster features the name of the designer – just like Gucci and Dior ads do. But it also includes the price, a vulgar detail that luxury houses don’t usually stoop to in their advertising. That’s what makes the Eram ads irreverent, says Mr. Devarrieux. "The low price allows us to be not too serious. With high-cost shoes, the ads are generally very serious. We want to show that Eram is not a victim of fashion."
The ads come one month after the French Secretary of Women’s Rights, Nicole Pery, published a report condemning the exploitation of women in a recent run of French ads. That report picked out a series of offenders among various luxury goods and fashion brands, including La City, louboutin, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.
According to Ms. Pery’s report, the past several months have seen a marked increase in ad campaigns portraying women "in a humiliating and degrading manner," including scenes of rape, domestic abuse and sado-masochism, which collectively have been labeled "porno-chic."
Mr. Devarrieux says the timing of the new campaign is coincidental and was planned before Ms. Pery’s report. Nonetheless, few in the industry deny that the issue of how women are portrayed in French advertising is delicate. "It’s a problem, but not one that should be solved by the government," Mr. Devarrieux says.