TARGET ad... offensive ?

[ramus]

I found this yesterday it really jumped out at me. I don't know how to post the picture of this ad ... INTEX .. above ground swimming pool, notice the man on the unicorn ... the female on the float shaped as a female symbol ... and the other female on the inter-tube. What the hell, either I'm getting prudish or this is so blatant that it's offensive.

https://weeklyad.target.com/promotions?code=Target-20180520&page=4


Help with the picture would make this easier ... thank you!


Target Weekly Ad Summer Outdoor June 3 - 9, 2018 | Pools, Tents, Air Bed (https://www.weeklyads2.com/target-weekly-ad-summer-outdoor-june-3-9-2018/)


https://www.weeklyads2.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Target-Weekly-Ad-Summer-Outdoor-June-3-9-2018.jpg
[From Hervé: That should be it?]

[DeDukshyn]

One can no longer get to the page it seems ... either by your link or by browsing through the target website to "intex pools"

So I still don't know what picture you are referring to ... I'll look a little bit more ...

[ramus]

I just checked it ... it works , it's a picture of an above ground pool ... targets ad is slow up-loading , also have help on the way to get the picture down loaded.

go to weekly ads this week page 4 ...

[DeDukshyn]

Is this it??

https://www.weeklyads2.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Target-Weekly-Ad-Summer-Outdoor-June-3-9-2018.jpg

¤=[Post Update]=¤


I just checked it ... it works , it's a picture of an above ground pool ... targets ad is slow up-loading , also have help on the way to get the picture down loaded.

go to weekly ads this week page 4 ...

Yeah just a blank page ... maybe because I'm viewing from Canada?

[Buzzie]

I was not offended by the ad.

[ramus]

Thank you dedukshyn

[DeDukshyn]

I was not offended by the ad.

I also am not offended ... but the guy on the unicorn is a bit silly, lol. The other girl's inflatable looks like it is supposed to be loch Ness monster or something ...

[Carmody]

I was not offended by the ad.

"I was not offended"

"For I knew I had to rise above it all,
or drown in my own ****." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKn33-q4Ao)

The unicorn is there for the parents of the children, it is tied to the release of the film "Deadpool 2". It's good marketing.

[Theresa]

that is a mermaid tail by the way hehe The pink thing, yep. https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/52990221?fmt=pjpeg&qlt=60

[DeDukshyn]

...

The unicorn is there for the parents of the children, it is tied to the release of the film "Deadpool 2". It's good marketing.


"Man on a Unicorn ...", you are likely right on that one.

Deadpool 2 trailer - first 30 seconds ...

dw6UHF0uHXM

[TargeT]

either I'm getting prudish

Maybe just a bit overly sensitive with all the weirdness gong on? Plus sexuality shouldn't be offensive right, this looks like 3 adults; I am ok with this even if it had more sexual over tones.

I guess you could REALLY get esoteric and look a the symbolism of water etc.. but I think that's a bit too much mental effort also.

[Helene West]

Is this it??

https://www.weeklyads2.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Target-Weekly-Ad-Summer-Outdoor-June-3-9-2018.jpg

¤=[Post Update]=¤


I just checked it ... it works , it's a picture of an above ground pool ... targets ad is slow up-loading , also have help on the way to get the picture down loaded.

go to weekly ads this week page 4 ...

Yeah just a blank page ... maybe because I'm viewing from Canada?

in quickly looking at the above pic of the guy and two gals in the pool I didn't at first discern the unicorn. It looked like something coming from his swimsuit trunk somewhat making it look like he had an erect penis.

Reminded me of the paperback series that came out in the '70s on Sublimal messages in advertising by Wilson Bryan Key, such as Subliminal Seduction. I think they were under $10 back then. On Amazon it now goes for 'mass market paperback' between $40 - $80. There is also an entry for paperback for $900!! Under the entry for $900 it actually says "only two left in stock! Order Soon!" LOLLLL

[Mike]

I think the very fact that you had to ask yourself if you should be offended should tell us a bit about these times and this postmodern, PC culture we're all being exposed to.

No knock on you Ramus! I find myself in the same exact scenarios:)! I can totally relate. When I'm watching certain comedians, like Bill Burr for example, I'll sometimes have a hard time distiguishing between something that might make me naturally uncomfortable and something I've been propagandized into thinking *should* make me uncomfortable, or offended.

Just another layer of dissonance.

[Michelle Marie]

It is part of the agenda to sexualize humanity through subconscious programming.

By keeping consciousness at the lower vibrations, into the animal nature, or the lower chakras, it is easier to manipulate and control. It's an attempt to divert the awakening into higher consciousness.

Your intuition, your feeling of aversion, is spot on.
It has gross vibrations.

Knowing motives and agendas help us to recognize and rise above this type of social conditioning.

This just tells me that you are awake!!! :sun:

:star: MM

PS. Normally, I won't pay any attention to ads or commercials. That's one reason I don't watch tv or listen to the radio. I care about what goes into my mind. I try to focus on higher vibrational material, or nature, or creating things.

[Bill Ryan]

It's just a unicorn.

If you click on "See Details", you get this next image. No male symbolism there.

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/52990127?wid=360&hei=360&fmt=pjpeg&qlt=60

The very fact we're even talking about this suggests that liberal political correctness is doing its thing, exactly as planned. :)

[ramus]

What I see is a man on a unicorn with a erection coming from his pants ... look it's multi colored ... running up the back of the unicorn's neck ..I'm not crazy over the picture it seems they should have notice how that looks , but then again.

[ramus]

After picking up on the unicorn, my conditioning got me looking for more ... that's what this world and times has got me doing. I'm trying to stop .

[Michelle Marie]

Intuition is another kind of 'seeing' and it include perceiving the intention.
(Reading the essence or energy.)

"Those who have eyes..."

There are perspectives, and there are perceptions. Between them, each individual will have their own point of view. That's just the way it is. It's all ok. :)

MM

[Helene West]

What I see is a man on a unicorn with a erection coming from his pants ... look it's multi colored ... running up the back of the unicorn's neck ..I'm not crazy over the picture it seems they should have notice how that looks , but then again.

I agree. In the pic in Bill's post above you can say nothing going on here perhaps (I disagree) but in the pic with the 3 people something appears to be coming from the guys pants as the unicorn image is blended with it and not easily discernible (shrewd) There's only one thing that sticks out from a guys pants, lol. The blended unicorn is thrown in to cover their butts.
As Wilson Bryan Key wrote way back that these people in advertising are paid fortunes to get a message across and nothing is left to chance. As mentioned that Amazon has made books on Key's subliminal suggestion so outrageously expensive says something to me as well....

[ramus]

Here is the pdf of Wilson Bryan Keys : Subliminal Suggestion ....Also a 2 hour you tube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZvnc7ksao


pdf: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YZsJZyUhMuJ2a41pzRYthug0AVAhRepFlnNHJwg62qg/edit

[Theresa]

It is only subliminal if your not aware of it. It is only offensive if you are looking for offensive things. I can not give our current society that kind of credit of manipulative thinking. Anything past sales is just incidental. We just are not that smart as a complete and collective group. The duh, is greater than the Ah.

[Caliban]

Most ads are offensive. Advertising is offensive. Period. They've been messing with our libidos (and our minds) from Madison Ave for a hundred years or more. We all know that. Society of the Spectacle. Etc.

[Tam]

Um...you guys, the "female symbol" floatie is a mermaid. Look closely. It's a mermaid tail. When you sit it in, at the right angle, you're meant to look like a lounging mermaid as you float.

The unicorn thing has been a trend among millennials the past couple years as well. Unicorn everything. They've been en vogue since late 2015 or early 2016. The trend should be dying off sometime soon.

Nothing to see here, imo. Just an overly trendy ad targeted at Urban 20-somethings. Unicorns, mermaids, and gold are a favorite among young women nowadays. Don't ask me why.

[petra]

either I'm getting prudish

Maybe just a bit overly sensitive with all the weirdness gong on? Plus sexuality shouldn't be offensive right, this looks like 3 adults; I am ok with this even if it had more sexual over tones.


Just this morning I saw an square ad like that one, for house building, and out of the corner of my eye it looked like.... something obscene. I see porn when it isn't even there.....

This on the other hand, I just cannot understand how anyone could take offense - and I am trying really hard. I'm a big prude too, but I still don't get it.

Thanks for pointing out the reference to Deadpool!

[DeDukshyn]

I'm sorry to all those who see this as some sort of sexual programming ... Unicorn hair erection?

I know people with dirty minds who see sexual things wherever there is none. I know people with bad pareidolia who see all kinds of things in in other things. The commonality to these things is that the mind is reflecting something in what it is seeing. Remember, observation goes two directions.

I think this is just a pool ad and we are reading into it waaaay too much.

I can go to a beach and see teens in string bikinis and some pervert in speedos with an obvious erection. What does it mean? To me it means that people who are younger have nice bodies, know it, and are willing to show them off. (I admit I get a little jealous over people who really take care of their bodies and look really good). The guy in the speedo makes me laugh a little though ... he shouldn't be wearing one - not with his body, nor with his propensity to get erections at the beach, lol.

We are a species so full of shame and guilt, we project it everywhere, condemn it, judge it, pretend we are not afflicted, and secretly enjoy that which is natural; this secrecy adds to the guilt of this vicious cycle, and this eventually leads to a sickness of sorts.


In the same vein that Mike was indicating, trying to decide whether we should feel "offended" or "guilty" about something, we should really reflect where that guilt / offense is coming from and whether it is really a part of us naturally or whether or not that has been programmed.

I am starting to feel guilty for observing and appreciating attractive people who look "sexy" - I guess it's related to age. Why? I have a great appreciation for the human form and I like the look of sexy, attractive people. Have I been programmed by some "leftist" culture? Or am I a just a human being?

Ok I'm way out on a tangent now.

The fish tail tube isn't a female symbol, and the guy, yes is riding a unicorn (unicorns are popular at this time). Most of us did NOT visualize the unicorn hair as some sort of erect penis (I did not even remotely see this until it was pointed out that someone else had) .. some did ...


Let's assume that the unicorn hair did effect someone subliminally ... what happens? They didn't outright see the unicorn hair penis (subliminal effect), but for some reason they go out and buy a unicorn outfit thinking it makes them look sexy at work ... his boss, who to the horror of the employee in a unicorn outfit, did not see the ad, and thus sent the errant employee home and told him to never wear that ridiculous costume to work again ...

Or, maybe target sells record amounts of unicorn inflatables, but can't sell any pools, and can't figure out why ...

I guess what I am after is .. what would be the motivation for a subliminal message on an ad like this? Could it just be that unicorns are highly marketable right now?

[KiwiElf]

I'm not offended by the ad, but coming from an advertising working background, they [advertisers] can and do "slip it in" (no pun intended) if they can get away with it.

Sometimes it really is accidental (advertising "pareidolia" - a case of selective perception, ie seeing what you want to see), and other times it's deliberate, (not to be confused with subliminal) - it's subconscious. (And Disney is famous for it). This was crossposted from another thread - note the two top left & top center images: (click to enlarge)

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Accidental or deliberate?

This example (below) is famous; long before Photoshop (and taught in Advertising 101)

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What do we see in this one (more ice cubes)?

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