Sex sells, a truth of which this blog is an undeniable beneficiary.
But when it suggestive and risqué too much? This thorny issue has been reopened by, of all things, an ice cream ad.
Manufacturer Morinaga surely didn’t expect to find themselves in the middle of a social media storm when it conceived a series of illustrations to promote its Ice Box product this summer.
It released these online and offered a small number of postcards to Twitter followers.
But the tenth illustration the company announced on July 6 quickly raised eyebrows and drew criticism for its sexual nature.
Created by Nakaki Pantz, the image shows a young woman lounging in a tiny, circular bathtub, reading a book titled Morinaga and pulling down her sunglasses like a Lolita-like coquette.
Most overtly, her legs are stretching out of the water and her modestly is protected by a drink floating in the water.
The controversy has arisen mainly because Ice Box is a widely available product and popular with children. It is sold as a cup of mini chunks of grapefruit-flavored ice cream, and a lifesaving, rehydrating treat during the long, hot summer in Japan.
Much attention has been paid to details like the drink, such as the phallic shape of the palm tree and its two fruits.
A film critic and university professor Hironori Ito was particularly excited by the image, though ultimately sparked his own backlash through his overly detailed reading of the sexual metaphors, leading him to delete his Twitter account.
To their credit, Morinaga have not backed down, neither deleting the offending image nor (as far as we know) offering a public apology.
With the tweet announcing Nakaki Pantz’s illustration having received a million views to date, the promotion has worked to boost Ice Box’s profile. Not that it really needs it; the product is a staple of any summer in Japan. And now possibly some horny teenaged boys’ fantasies!
