“If three’s a crowd, we don’t even want to know what four is!”

As a professional marketer (means that is how I make a living!), I know that the first rule of marketing is ALWAYS “never offend your audience.”  Although the old cliche says “there is not such thing as bad PR,” it only takes one small mistake to turn a trendy ad into a poisonous personal plight by an audience. 

Take, for example, the ongoing fight by a “well-meaning” audience to get David Letterman pulled off of the air.  Granted, these are people who could not drag their carcuss out of the house to go vote for President, but David Letterman insinuated in a joke that it was acceptable for a grown man to rape a 14 year old girl.

Now, realistically, does anyone who has taken their medications for the day really believe that David Letterman believes that it is acceptable for a man to rape a teenage girl?  No!  Was the joke in bad taste?  Yes!  But, again, realistically, most of David Letterman’s jokes are in bad taste.

I won’t even discuss the Sarah Palin, media whore, fevered mob mentality about the joke, but I will say that an audience can turn on a company in a heartbeat.  Never is this more true than with sexuality in the United States. 

 It seems there is big stir about this new Calvin Klein billboard:

 Now, I personally think that the ad is a beuatiful celebration of sexuality.  As a marketer, however, I can appreciate something more in this Calvin Klein ad.  This ad is literally the expression of every form of sexuality including:

• solo sex, twosomes, threesomes, and foursomes
• voyeurism, masturabation, and exhibitionism
• homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality

What makes it sexy is that everyone in the ad looks so accepting of their sexuality and comfortable in their own skin.  Oh, if only life inimitated art!

As  a marketer, I can appreciate that Calvin Klein, in one ad, did what I have come to expect from Calvin Klein.  They made jeans sexy to everyone on the planet!  ~~Dee