News Flash: Skis, Sex and Snowboards

Link to Article: http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20100202/NEWS/100209971/1062/rss

Selling a product is not always an easy task, especially in today’s struggling economy. In order for a company to make a profit, it needs to successfully market its product. The best way to market a product is to appeal to the primary consumer. When it comes to marketing snowboards, the dominant consumer is men. According to U.S. News journalist, Katy Marquardt, men comprise 75 percent of the 5.1 billion snowboarders (Marquardt 2009). As a result, snowboard manufacturers market their products almost exclusively to men. What is the best way to market an item to men in their 20s and 30s? Sell the product through sex.

At first, snowboards were advertised by scantily clad women, but now this industry has taken using sex to sell the board to the next level. Before a young boy was eager to buy a $300 snowboard because a beautiful blonde posed with it in an ad. Now, these beautiful women are no longer bound to selling boards through magazine ads and other advertisements, now these women are directly on the snowboard. Julie Sutor’s article, “Sex Sells Snowboards in Denver”, not only covers the 2010 SnowSports Industries America (SIA) trade show, but also exemplifies how the most successful marketing tool in America today is a half-dressed woman.

Sutor acknowledges that sex was overwhelming present at this years’ SIA show. Female models patrolled through the convention wearing next to nothing. Their clothing for the trade show consisted of barely there flight attendant and cop outfits. (These outfits are a direct replica of what women wear on Halloween.) Any person, snowboarder or not, is not alone in wondering what flight attendants and cops have to do with winter sports? It may seem like a trick question, but the answer is nothing. There is no relation or relative reason why women at SIA are dressed up in police force or stewardess costumes.

However, while there is no direct relationship between the costumes and snow sports, there is a reason why these women are wearing very revealing ensembles, it is about advertising. According to Tom Reichert, author of The Erotic History of Advertising, “There’s research showing that in advertising to young adults, versus older adults, you’re more likely to see sexual content. One reason is hormonal- they’re probably at their peak in terms of testosterone. They’re very tuned in to sexual information, especially of the opposite sex” (Sutor 2010). Ski and snowboard companies at the SIA are trying to appeal to all of the consumers, the majority of whom are young males, and what better way to grasp the attention of a college male than through a beautiful woman wearing a dress composed of as much material as that of a napkin. This is a direct example of Johnson’s description of patriarchy, which shows “the standards of female beauty” (Johnson 7). Is this mode of marketing exploitive of women? Yes. However, is it successful? Yes. Reichert further aggress that “From a marketing standpoint, is it smart? Yes. Is it socially responsible? Probably not” (Sutor 2010). However, since it is a patriarchal culture, exploiting women in this manner becomes acceptable.

However, the main point of these companies is to make a profit. In order to be financially successful, companies have to be able to tap into their target market. “These companies are right-on in terms of trying to appeal to this target audience” (Sutor 2010). Thus, is a company able to justify exploiting and objectifying women in order to make a profit? Morally, the answer is no, but unfortunately, in the 21st century the concept of morals and values no longer exist. Thus, using women and their sexuality to sell products is seen as normal by a majority of the population. Americans have become desensitized by sex because the exploitation and objectification of women is everywhere in today’s society.

Not everyone approves of the marketing technique of using half-naked women to sell snowboards. In fact, both people within the snowboarding community, as well as, outside of the snowboarding community disapprove of this technique. However, there is one particular group that many Americans are trying to protect from viewing these sexual, racy images, and that group is children. Keeping children from viewing these provocative images has become a main concern of many women’s rights groups. Young boys and girls do not need to be subjected to seeing images of scantily clad women. Yes, youths today are exposed to much of raunch culture. The concern is subjecting children to more sex and raunch than they already face in everyday entertainment and advertisements. Thus, since skiing and snowboarding is considered a family activity and children participate in it, controversy has developed over the snow sports industry, predominately the snowboarding sector’s, using of sex to promote products.

Ultimately, people are infuriated over the graphics that companies have chosen to use on their snowboards. People see these images as objectifying women. “When you really think about it, it’s a young man standing on top of a naked woman’s body” (Picchi 2009). The protests against these companies goes against Johnson’s belief that people take the path of least resistance. In this particular instance, individuals are willing to “deal with greater resistance” because they are taking a stance for what they believe is morally right (Johnson 4).

Currently, there are two companies that have graphics of half-naked women on their boards. Both Burton and Nidecker are at the center of this controversy. Sutor’s article focuses on the backlash that Nidecker (NDK), a Swiss snowboard manufacturer, is currently facing over its new line of snowboards, which have provocative images on them. NDK recently announced that its new line of snowboards, will feature graphic images of Pamela Anderson wearing nothing but lingerie. According to Nick Boville, a representative for Nidecker, he believes that Nidecker will “sell a crap-load of these to guys in their 20s and early 30s because Pamela Anderson’s picture is on it” (Sutor 2010). Nothing promotes snowboarding like Pamela Anderson in a bra and underwear.

However, NDK was not the first company to plaster images of naked women on their boards. In 2008 Burton partnered with Playboy and launched a new line of “limited edition” boards, labeled Love (Picchi 2009). These boards featured vintage images of semi-naked women from the 1970s. All of the images have been featured in Playboy magazine (Picchi 2009).

Ultimately, Burton was hit with a large wave of criticism over this particular line of boards. The largest, and probably most shocking negative feedback of the boards came from the manufacturer’s home state, Vermont. However, what was Burton’s response to the backlash that the Love boards faced? They stood by their boards and claimed that they supported freedom of artistic expression. “Both Burton and Playboy were founded on principles of individual freedom, and the collaboration has resulted in boards that reflect this attitude. The imagery on the boards is tastefully done, and we believe that they will be collector’s items” (Burton.com). However, not only did these boards display images of naked women, but they also came with an extremely sexual slogan. “My name is Love and I’m on the market for someone who’s looking to score serious action, no matter where they like to stick it” (Burton.com). Does this marketing line truly represent individual freedom or just pure sexism?

There is a difference in the individual freedom that Playboy represents and that a Love snowboard signifies. Ultimately, Playboy represents the First Amendment of sexual expression. However this magazine is not viewed by the entire population, but only is viewed by those who purchase it. If one chooses to look through a Playboy, one must first purchase it and often remove a plastic cover or ask for it from behind the counter of the store. Thus, those who do not wish to view the sexual images do not have to see them. Yes, the media will sometimes display certain images from the magazine however, due to censorship laws, the very provocative and racy images will never be shown in public. Thus, most importantly, children are protected from being subjected to these exploitive images. However, the graphics on snowboards are far less private. Snowboards are on public display and cannot be shielded from the eyes of children. Thus, the biggest problem that protesters of the Love line have is the fact that children are exposed to images that degrade women.

Thus, not only does the Love line and NDK’s Anderson line subject innocent bystanders to images that one does not wish to see, but also these images carry a more public message on a snowboard then in a magazine. It can be argued that nude pictorials of women, like those found in Playboy can be referred to as art, since photography, which is often over-looked by the art world, is ultimately, a form of art. While yes, a Playboy photograph is not nearly as artistic as a Diane Arbus photograph, , it is nonetheless still a piece of art. However, once that image is stripped from the pages of a magazine and placed onto an object, the artistic value of the image diminishes. The image of the naked woman is no longer considered a photograph, but rather, it is now just a tool used to sell products. In other words, the female in the graphic image has turned into a product that is used to sell something. Thus, what does this technique of using women say about society’s treatment of women? It clearly states that women are not held in high regards. In fact, women are seen merely as objects that can be used at the discretion of men. Women are clearly seen being exploited by men.

The increase of sex in the world of snowboarding is another example of today’s raunch culture. Levy would be quick to place the blame for today’s raunch culture on the women posing in these suggestive photos. However despite both Levy and Johnson’s belief that the individual is to blame, the system is at fault for the rise in raunch culture. Ultimately, it is the advertising industry that is promoting and publishing these photographs. An individual is a mere pawn in the system; the manufacturer has the final say in what image and product is produced.

In conclusion, the marketing industry has been successful in using women and sex to sell products. As a result of the constant use of this marketing technique, Americans have, to an extent, become desensitized to the objectification of women. However, while most people might be used to seeing advertisements of women in bikinis on television or in magazines, a large portion of the country is not ready to see these women plastered across everyday items, especially products that are used by children. Ultimately, in her article, Sutor shows how the snowboarding industry has a very specific group of consumers. In order to maximize profit and bring in the highest revenue, snowboarding companies have decided to forgo catering to all of their clientele and have focused on marketing to their dominant consumer, young men. As a result, the snowboarding industry is to blame for exploited women. It is degrading to reproduce Playboy images onto snowboards. Ultimately, like other sectors in America, the snowboarding industry has subjected women to being nothing more than a pretty face and good body, in other words, a mere object.


Bibliography:

Burton
2008 www.burton.com
Johnson
Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them or an Us
Levy, Ariel
2005 Female Chauvinist Pigs.
Marquardt, Katy
2009 King of the Hill in Snowboards. U.S. News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/topics/subjects/sports
Phillipps, Dave
2008 No Love for Burton Boards at Work. The Gazette. http://outthere.freedomblogging.com/20 08/10/30/no-burton-love-boards-at-work/2977/
Picchi, Aimee
2009 Edgy Snowboard Graphics Test Liberal Vermont. Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2009/01/05/edgy_snow board_ graph ics_test_liberal_vermont/?page=1
Sutor, Julie
2010 Sex Sells Snowboards in Denver. Vail Daily. http://www.vaildaily.com/article/2010020 2/NEWS/100209971/1002