IZOD: Clothing or ConceptEvery day, billions are spent on advertising with the intention of selling some product of one kind or another. Every day, even more people come in contact with these ads and are affected by them. As the number of ads continues to rise, the percentage of those that are misleading and manipulative also increases. As a result, we have become more skeptical about what we see and hear, and we have begun to acquire distaste for the marketing world. The IZOD “Extreme Leisure” clothing ad is a perfect example of why this distaste for today’s marketing industry is ascending at such a dramatic rate.
The image that IZOD portrays is one of popularity, fun, sex appeal, and excitement (“Extreme Leisure”), and is presented in such a way as to mislead the reader into believing that he will attain this image by wearing IZOD clothing. This misrepresentation occurs in many ways within the ad. The ad’s picture shows a group of male and female friends all sitting around socializing, drinking beer, laughing and smiling, all with a whole-hearted carefree attitude, all while wearing IZOD clothing. In fact, they aren’t just socializing, but are also playing strip poker. This is where the sex appeal comes in; “Hey, wear IZOD clothing and you’ll be in this situation toohalf naked women, beer, and more fun than you can handle.” Yeah right. Reality check! Although consciously we know this to be untrue, this concept is what the ad inscribes into the reader’s brain, and is what the reader walks away with – a pretty sleazy deceit.
IZOD’s ad also promotes not only immoral acts, but a theme that is damaging to society. Firstly, it promotes immoral acts by making a connection between fun and happiness to nudity and sex appeal. By showing only partly dressed men and women in a festive environment, the ad sends the message that this is the “cool” thing to do. If you want to be in with the “in” people, this is the way to go. Have fun! This way of thinking is the wrong message to send and is a negative side effect of this ad. Second, is the alcohol issue: IZOD’s ad backs one of the most hazardous ideas of our time–that beer means fun. IZOD not only illustrates this with beer drinking taking place, but also comes out and says it in plain English. In a comment relating to an old couple standing outside the window watching the game proceed, the advertisement states this: “Strip poker attracts spectators. Charging them a fee means money for more beer. More beer = more EXTREME LEISURE enjoyment.” This thoughtless statement does only more damage to an already suffering society and may even lead to more alcoholics and alcohol related deaths. The inappropriateness of this advertisement is evident, and its misleading and manipulative presence makes it a flawless representative of the so many unworthy ads. IZOD truly makes clear why our respect for the marketing industry continues to decline, and our distaste to grow.
