“They don’t even smoke “Marlboro” here. There was a time when this was the advertisement slogan for the “Marlboro” cigarette was placed on the planes for international flights. The already classic, laconic texts saying everything in one sentence are replaced by long-worded, meaningless, and repulsive texts that come from the lips of a beautiful lady. It is understandable that the ladies have a minimum amount of clothing, the longest legs, a glance with two meanings, and often present the advertised product in immodest movements, thus leaving the consumer in confusion, the consumer even having a hard time trying to understand what product or service is being advertised.
Recently, there are frequent advertisements of an Italian ice cream on Armenian television. The “key” of the advertisement is a good-looking lady who licks her fingers while going down the elevator, or in the car, or God knows where without getting bored or paying attention to the gazes of the men looking at her. That she doesn’t care what she is doing may become a reason for many interpretations, and moving her fingers to her mouth and licking them may be considered as something else. But in reality the girl is not doing anything bad – she is simply licking the ice cream off her fingers, at the same time setting an bad example for the children watching the advertisement.
Why is the product or service offered to the potential buyer suitable when it is presented from the lips of half-naked beauties or when the advertisement text is read by someone with a deep voice and erotic glances? Senior lecturer of the Pediatrician and Gynecology department of the Yerevan State Medical University and head of the reproductive department of the center for health maintenance and family planning, Georgi Poghosyan, gives the answer to that.
“Why are you surprised? Let’s say any kind of product is being advertised. The producers have to have an impact on people’s senses for them to buy the product. Erotica has the same impact on people’s senses as the nutritious product wrapped in colorful paper. Let us admit that that is more pleasing than food presented in a sloppy way. Why shouldn’t erotica be used as a tool if it affects consumers? I don’t see anything wrong with that. It is another thing when that is done for the advertisement of a product using children, or whenever there are certain elements of sexual minorities. That should not be allowed. Erotica is a healthy feeling that characterizes a person. It is also wrong to go with the Soviet Puritanism where you can’t do this and you can’t do that. In other words, everything is fine if done in moderation."
Poghosyan brought up an example of an advertisement that he doesn’t like. It is an automobile advertisement with half-naked beauties washing the car and themselves with sponges. “I, for example, don’t like it when half-naked girls wash the cars in order to sell the automobile. Instead of washing the car, they rub the soap on themselves, on the parts of their bodies that they think are very attractive. But I won’t hide the fact that those girls have a very bad appearance. You know, when a woman lies on the hood of a car and starts to move in awkward ways, moaning, you begin to think that a hole may form on the car and you will have to spend a lot of money to fix it later.”
“Doctor, what would you think if you saw a young lady actively licking her fingers in an elevator?
“If you really want to know, I will say that that is an unpleasant scene. If the woman doesn’t know what a napkin is or doesn’t wash her hands, it is better to not have anything to do with that woman. You know, that is more acceptable among Americans. They eat and then start licking their fingers. That is disgusting. I think that those who, regardless of how tasty the ice cream or any other type of food is, start to lick their fingers, are not well-disciplined. There is no erotica here. Licking fingers means that the given person has refused to use soap or napkins and doesn’t know the elementary rules of hygiene. This is not a successful example of an advertisement.”
P.S. Taking advantage of the occasion, Georgi Poghosyan said a couple of words about the women who try to beat the heat by wearing extremely open and transparent clothing.
“If the woman is pretty and has revealed her body to an extent that is acceptable and not more than that, there is nothing wrong with that. I think that those who stare at women who wear revealing clothes have sexual problems. But when it comes to that the normal, satisfied man likes open clothing. I am only against one style of women’s underclothing, and I say this as a gynecologist. When women wear underwear made from two-three strings, which disappear into the curves of the body, and they think that that is very sexual, they are very wrong because that causes men to feel sorry for the woman who has worn that kind of underwear. The rest is beautiful, if it doesn’t go overboard. Short skirts are very beautiful, but when women wear a short dress and then start to pull their skirt, that is unpleasant and hard to understand. If you don’t feel comfortable in a short dress, why do you get on others’ nerves with your repulsive movements?”