Advertisements seem to have the ability to take what is promiscuous and make it fashionable. This has been happening for many years. So perhaps it is no surprise that the boundaries keep getting pushed further back.

The latest example of this is by Lynx deodorant, a subsidiary of Unilever who have their finger in a lot of pies. There are two products that really seem to struggle to sell themselves, judging by their advertisements. The first is beer. With restrictions upon what they can actually show in advertisements beer advertisements usually combine the nonsensical with the hilarious.

However, in many ways deodorant advertisements take the cake for stupidity. For instance, the regularly played Brut Code advertisements try to sell their product by giving men advice such as “boardies over budgies”. While such a message is both stupid and completely irrelevant to the use of deodorant it is one step up from the advertisement that merely has a robot picking up things that are perceived as manly. But neither of these are as demeaning as the “spot and share” Brut code which blatantly states that a man should point out a hot, scantly-clad woman to his mates so they can drool over her as well. Talk about selflessness.

Now Lynx have brought out an advertisement range entitled “Lnyx Lodge” and somehow deodorant advertisements have hit a new immoral low. In the Lynx Lodge advertisements several women are seemingly stuck on a getaway resort without any men to do certain tasks for them. These tasks are not stated but it can be assumed that they include rubbing sunscreen onto a girl’s back, chopping wood, playing table-tennis, rowing, water-skiing, swinging, playing volleyball and having breakfast in bed. While this list of activities might seem a bit self-indulgent they are certainly innocuous enough.

Except for two things. The first is that the only clothes these women are wearing are bikinis. The second thing is the other activities this advertisement suggests men are required to do. Both playing spin the bottle and skinny dipping is portrayed as necessitating male involvement. In fact the advertisement goes so far to show the last female getting completely undressed and then running into the ocean naked. This sexualisation borders on the pornographic and the ominous music of the advertisement, no doubt meant to imply that lack of male representation is a terrible and overwhelming thing, merely symbolizes many people’s views upon this advertisement.

It is not just Christians who have condemned this advertisement. Melinda Reist wrote a very compelling article on Monday entitled “Sexism alive and well in Australia”. As Melinda points out the website has the description “Lynx Lodge – Get Laid Back”. Surely such innuendo does not work as subliminal messaging. Somehow, the website manages to fit so many double entendre’s onto its pages that it must rival a pornography website. Here are some examples:

“Grab your wood”

“Get wet and wild”

“Ball games – satisfy your cravings”

“Rack ‘Em Up”

Perhaps most disturbing of all is the description under Master Bedroom that states “After fluffing your pillows, Lodge staff will tuck you in and prepare you for sweet dreams. Enjoy the luxurious serenity, interrupted only be pillow fights that occasionally break out among staff”. Such an allusion to prostitution is abhorrent. The fact that consumers can win tickets to this resort by buying Lynx deodorant says how much this advertisement fails on ethical grounds. The somewhat ironic thing is that deodorant is one of those products that could almost virtually sell itself. However, Lynx, like Brut, have taken the low road and sold out to men’s self-gratification. What a pathetic attempt at promotion by their advertising gurus!