Teen Sex
That got your attention, didn’t it? But watch this ad, titled “Speed Dressing,” and then we’ll talk:
JC Penny now denies knowing anything about the ad, and that doesn’t surprise me. Whether it was produced with JCPenny’s knowledge or not is somewhat unclear, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was produced on spec without the store’s knowledge. I just can’t imagine the marketing people there ever being interested in courting the controversy that would certainly occur were the retailer to endorse an ad like this.
What’s fascinating about this spot is the incongruity between its subject and its seeming lack of awareness of that subject’s cultural baggage. There’s a shy, gentle sweetness to the production — the dim lighting, the twee soundtrack, the unwillingness to be flaunt the attractiveness of the two obviously attractive models playing the teens — tonally, it comes across as blissfully unaware of the way it was bound to be received. It’s as if it was thought up in some alternate universe in which the topic of teen sexuality does not engender social tempests, but is viewed instead as a well-worn rite of passage no more culturally fraught than going to the prom or getting one’s first car.
Indeed, the ad does everything it can to avoid seeming subversive. It’s true, of course, that the whole point is to keep the mother character — who we’re implicitly expected to understand would disapprove of their intended activity — in the dark. But despite this familiar trope, the ad seems to reflect a thoroughly modern understanding of the parent-teen relationship, one in which parents no longer exert real authority over the lives of their children. No, this ad is fully a product of the new suburban paradigm which casts parents as friends, confidants, and willing providers rather than disciplinarians. That’s why there’s no trace of the familiar adolescent rage and frustration against restrictive parenting. No longer is the point to escape Mom’s certain wrath — it’s to gently, lovingly allow her to keep her quaint ideas about the world. It’s almost touching, in a what-has-society-come-to way: The idea is not to lash out at Mom; rather, it’s to protect her.
Astute observations in that last paragraph, there. But we all agree that this is a bad thing, right? Right?
— JS Bangs · Jun 24, 07:07 PM · #
Considering who’s paying for clothes from JC Penney’s (not kids!), this commercial is a bad idea. It’s not okay to potentially insult your customers.
— Klug · Jun 24, 07:39 PM · #
If the mom in the ad exerts no real authority, why are they practicing speed dressing? That certainly implies that mom isn’t going to give them a free pass in the TV room. What irritates me about the ad is that mass media shouldn’t be giving teens great ideas about how not to get caught.
— Steven Donegal · Jun 24, 08:36 PM · #
This is a perfect viral ad. Not only did I spend an hour of my life convincing people to watch it, but between the story and the clothes and styles shown, I actually stopped and said “huh, apparently JC Penney is significantly cooler than I remembered”. I hope they’re just shooting off an ink cloud of deniability, or barring that, I hope their ad people decided to teach them a lesson and they learned it.
— Senescent · Jun 24, 09:40 PM · #
Um, seems about right to me, no? I think I agree with you that this perfectly encapsulates where society is at. I am just not convinced that this is such a bad thing (if that is what you are suggesting). I mean, the mother worries about her daughter, but people her daughter’s age have been having sex for 1000s of years. This pretty much encapsulates the current cultural norms surrounding that tension.
— Gentle Reader · Jun 25, 03:02 AM · #
I agree with Senescent. This is a brilliant ad for changing the image of JC Penney.
Here’s the thing: the situation could be set in 1975. Boyfriend comes over, goes down to the basement to “watch TV” with his girlfriend, and they hope Mom doesn’t come downstairs and discover them. There’s nothing in the ad suggesting Mom would be blase if she knew what was going on downstairs. There’s nothing to suggest she’s a new-model “Mom/friend.”
But if the ad were to air, then Mom would see what they were up to. And, indeed, she would be mighty upset.
The ad isn’t aimed at Mom – it’s aimed at her daughter, and changing her perception of Penney as being the sort of store that she’d only go to if her Mom made her. And the way to reach her daughter without offending Mom is to do precisely what was done: put it on Youtube and publicly disclaim any knowledge of the ad so that the controversy remains minor rather than doing full-blown damage to the brand.
— Noah Millman · Jun 25, 02:39 PM · #
Protecting Mom used to be something that Dads did, and enforced where their children, particularly their sons, were concerned. “You have upset your mother” was considered a valid grounds for punishment. At least, that was the case back in the Dark Ages (‘50s) when I was a child. Also, notice the absence of a father here, leaving it up to Mom to (ineffectually) supervise her daughter.
— Nitpicker · Jun 27, 12:10 AM · #