by Stephanie Cole

The edgy clothing company Diesel launched a new ad campaign this summer titled “Be Stupid,” showing models in new and “creative” ways to expose their bodies. One shows a woman lifting her shirt for a security camera. Another had a model sitting in a sort-of reverse piggyback on a man’s shoulders, so that his face was between her legs. In another, a woman in a bikini appeared to be photographing her crotch, oblivious to the lion standing behind her. The images were plastered with phrases like “Smart may have brains, but Stupid has balls. Be Stupid.” (The ads where banned in the UK for their racy imagery.)

The “Be Stupid” campaign was offensive not only for sexist imagery, but for its active promotion of “stupid.” The campaign seemed to be hiding behind the word as a synonym for creative and brave.  Maybe they should have checked a thesaurus, because stupid means none of these things. “Be Stupid” strikes me as the first ad campaign that overtly de-values a woman’s brains as it sexualizes her. Others only suggested the process–Diesel came right out and said it.

Well, Diesel is at it again. The company’s newest campaign is called “Diesel Island” and it follows the story of 50 scantily clad young people on an island with the goal of creating a colony of  “stupid.” They bribe a group of brown-skinned people (labelled “natives”) into allowing them to settle, and then proceed to take group showers and have sex to populate.

The campaign is so offensive that it baffles me. There seems to be some sort of hip, satirical tone, but it’s not funny. It is sexist and it is racist. This happens often in the fashion industry, where misogyny and sexualisation hide behind art or irony.  The Diesel ads seem to be reaching for subversion and innovation, similar to the pornographic images produced by American Apparel. And the ruse seems to be working. The campaign was actually honoured by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for “creativity” and the “guts” to be so bold. Really?! Why does the release an offensive ad campaign make a brand appear groundbreaking?

True subversive advertising breaks down the way ads operate and ridicules it. Last year’s satirical campaign by Kotex is a good example. Making fun of something we’ve come to accept–such as the blue liquid used in pad commercials—is daring. Sexualizing women is not. (Boring actually.) Bravery is having the guts to produce sincerely positive advertising. Diesel isn’t even close. As long as they continue to sexualise young people and de-value critical thought, they are doing nothing new at all. Just being stupid.