Women’s suit company reverses gender roles in this advertising campaign using naked men as props
Oct 11, 2017
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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This advertising campaign is sure to raise a few eyebrows. Suistudio, a company which makes suits for women, has decided to do something a little different with a familiar theme for their new marketing. A total role reversal. Women in suits and naked guys sprawled around as props. Personally, I think it’s pretty awesome.
I’m going to say it because I have to say it. Some of you may find the images below NSFW. I suppose, though, that will depend on where you work. I don’t like that I had to censor the image above to appease the social media gods, either.
Role reversal has become something of a hot topic in the last few years. I’ve seen it tried in a few marketing campaigns, but it almost always falls short of the mark. Yes, they highlight the situation of inequality that we all already know exists, but they do it at the expense of advertising’s actual purpose.
They depend on shock and controversy to spread the message of inequality. You rarely remember who the company is or what the products being sold are, though. It feels like they’re just jumping on the bandwagon, and are easily forgettable.
Or, they attempt to highlight inequality in such a terrible way that it just turns customers away from the company. Oh, hi Pepsi!
From a marketing standpoint, this campaign is quite subtle in its message of inequality, yet I think very powerful. To me, these images make the situations appear just as “normal” as the scenes we’ve traditionally seen in advertising. Where the men are in the suit and the women are the naked props. Here, the focus is still definitely on the company and their products.
As well as gender, the images also challenge racial inequality.
To me, these send a much more powerful message than all the ranty videos and campaigns we usually see. From all sides of the various debates. These make the situations appear just as normal as the those we’ve seen in advertising for decades. And the more that people start to see situations like these as normal, the sooner they will just become accepted as normal and the inequalities will start to disappear.
As a guy, seeing the naked guys in these photos, it doesn’t bother me one bit. Are they being objectified? Maybe. But it’s not like it’s being done against their will. Does it make me feel any “less like a man” to see these guys in the photos? Also no. Do the images make me feel intimidated by or afraid of “powerful women”? Again, nope.
I photograph women a lot. I photograph guys, too, but it’s just worked out that ladies tend to be the subject that appears in front of my lens most often. When I photograph women, my goal is always to make them look and feel strong, confident and powerful.
So, intimidating? Don’t make me laugh. They are not something of which to be afraid. They’re to be admired, just as much as any powerful or successful guy.
I am curious to hear what others think about this, but well done, Suistudio, I say.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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27 responses to “Women’s suit company reverses gender roles in this advertising campaign using naked men as props”
so progressive!
Not…
Eh, light is too hard and pulling the view away from the product is a silly idea. *shrug*
The problem is this isn’t making a stand against the objectification of women. It’s actually doing the opposite by normalizing the objectification of people in general. Now people can say, “it’s not sexist, because sometimes they do it to men”. They flipped the roles, but they’re still encouraging the behavior. To me, this is a thinly veiled attempt to hijack a social movement to promote a product.
“this is a thinly veiled attempt to hijack a social movement to promote a product”
AKA, Advertising for the last 50 years. Nothing new here.
And many men were throwing their toys out of the cot in some comments lol.
What if it was a reversed gender picture? Bad idea.
Naked humans those models doesnt represent us male we are chubby skinny hairy imbalance bald
As men, do we feel objectified by seeing naked men? Of course not, because we understand that men are still privileged and we have nothing to fear. Take away that privilege; add generations of discrimination and abuse; mix in a culture that treats us like meat; take away our power, and then ask if we are offended and objectified. Of course we are.
You said it yourself: “Are they being objectified? Maybe. But it’s not like it’s being done against their will.” Well, much of the time women ARE objectified against their will. It’s not the same, not the same at all, and men will never in our lifetimes ever feel the way women do when they are objectified.
“When I photograph women, my goal is always to make them look and feel strong, confident and powerful.” Great. Good for you. Most of the time that’s not the case.
I think it cheapens men, treats us like meat?
Everyone is meat now! Equality!
It is not right to objectify men like that! #mensrights
Are double-breasted jackets back? And the lapel on that back jacket was oversized for my taste, but for her figure I guess works.
I like it.
I think it is high to expose men’s penises and balls too in advertising.
Not sure what this add is all about but it is as cheap and cheesy as if there were dressed up men with naked women as props. You think it’s awesome? Objectifying is wrong either way. And why do the women wear suits? Why not dresses? So God forbid they don’t look feminine?
Feminism=chauvinism, both are based on degrading the other sex.
Crass virtue signalling.
Who cares? :)
Good shots, pulled off the concept well… Not much else to say.
I now need a new suit…
I get the idea, and I love the style, lighting, and editing, but there’s just a big glaring issue that keeps me from fully enjoying these. Just because the genders’ roles are reversed doesn’t necessarily mean that their bodily postures have to be. Why were the women posed like men?
Finaly, no big silicon breast puppets or exaggerated female sicilon unreal shapes and overdosed make-up. Women are more charming without make-up and with s simple jeans and t-shirt. I hate advertising agencies that sales us illusions of all kind!
This is supposed to accomplish….what?
A google image search for “mens suits” turns up….pictures of men in suits.
When feminists run out of controversies they are forced to manufacture them.
Word of mouth and virality, nothing more and nothing less… They really don’t care what we think, they care how much the campaign spreads on the net :p
You all fall for the most evident trap there is in the world… They don’t care about the discussions you are making here, they care about how viral this campaign goes :p
The most basic principle of marketing and PR: word of mouth.
You people are really basic…
I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said here but there are many dimensions. The sexual objectification of men that started long before these ads can have negative consequences. Presenting near impossible standards of male beauty that can lead to obsession on body image, anorexia in young men, insecurity. I read about one young man who died from complications with lipo suction. He had a near perfect body and almost no body fat, he wanted close to zero body fat. It’s not exactly the same as you say but it’s still a reflection of our shallow, youth oriented, material culture. The women here are stunning and beautiful when judged by a specific standard in the media, in a way, it’s more of the same. I’d say it even perpetuates ‘the cougar’ archetype a bit that some women find offensive. I don’t dislike the ads but they’re not that cutting edge or thought provoking.
The message is that men have to give up everything for women, even the clothes off their backs, so their wife or gf or daughters look beautiful.