Is This The Most Offensive Gear Ad Ever?

27May07

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Deckadance Ass Shot

Image Line Software, the creators of software such as FL Studio / Fruityloops, has been running this ad to promote its latest release, Deckadance. Deckadance is a new DJ mixing application.

We’re not sure, but this may rank as even more offensive than the ads that amp makers put in guitar magazines. If I were female, it might make me think twice about checking out Deckadance.

On the other hand, I’m not female, and the ad got my attention.

What do you think? Is the ad sexist and offensive, or is it about time that companies made electronic music software sexy?

Let me know what you think in the comments…

Tags: babes, Deckadance, Image Line Software, sexist, sexy, Strange

3264Comments2007-05-27+16%3A03%3A05synthhead to “Is This The Most Offensive Gear Ad Ever?”

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1 tiesto fan on May 27th, 2007 said:

Nothing wrong with that - just a nice shot of some attractive ladies that are dancing on the deck.
2 joe on May 27th, 2007 said:

The writer of this blog is a retard. Why would you think this was offensive at all
3 Jack on May 27th, 2007 said:

I could spin on that
4 synthhead on May 27th, 2007 said:

OK - I’m retarded, but what do you think about the ad?
5 Notrix on May 27th, 2007 said:

OMG! How shocking!!!

I think you’re an antiquated twat living in a bygone century.
6 Andrea Broch on May 27th, 2007 said:

OK you geeks - look at it from a woman’s perspective for a moment.

Would you want to buy this software if they had ads with some guy in a damn thong sticking his ass in your face?

Native Instruments doesn’t need ass-shots to sell Traktor, does it?
7 Stan on May 27th, 2007 said:

Gear is mainly for guys. Guys like babes. Babes make a pretty good living on the deal. No one gets hurt. Sex sells. I have no problem with the ad.
Let’s be honest: guys want to become famous musicians so they can get a chance to date models. It’s all about women at the end. We want money, fame, power, etc. only to give it all to women.
8 dj klachick on May 28th, 2007 said:

On the specs - Decadance seems pretty cool, so I really don’t understand why they should stick asses in our face, simply show us the features! It’s like musicians that have nothing to say about their music, because it sucks, talk about all the drugs and sex they had.
9 synthhead on May 28th, 2007 said:

dj klachick

Do you think that maybe they are trying to appeal to all the DJs that want more drugs and sex in their lives?
10 BlueBrat on May 29th, 2007 said:

As the infamous electronics maker X10 proved, sexy ads sell. There’s more males in the industry than females, that’s a proven fact. So unless the females in the industry unite and complain against this, you can expect more from them since they’ll most likely see a sales increase from all the horny males. Nothing new with this type of marketing as long as the company isn’t concerned of tarnishing or getting a reputation from it.
11 umourman on May 30th, 2007 said:

I clipped the image from your site and used it as my desktop wallpaper. Maybe I’ll photo-shop out the Deckadance logo.
12 dj klachick on May 31st, 2007 said:

I son’t think drugs and sex are the case here, simple bad taste of the marketing people
13 Dj KKK on Jun 9th, 2007 said:

Maybe you should come out of the closet instead, no offence
14 synthhead on Jun 9th, 2007 said:

DJ KKK

And maybe you should kiss my axe, no “offence”.
15 Kalilamae on Jul 14th, 2007 said:

Ok… I’m a girl and I was not offended at all by this. Girls who are offended by it are, in my opinion, a bit ridiculous. Advertisements are for selling things.

If you are selling something and directing that item towards males, you will more than likely include scantily clad females SOMEWHERE.

I mean, really. We all know that it’s almost certainly mainly men buying this product. And we all know they’re all thinking about how hot those two women are.

And that they are given another reason to buy the item advertised simply because they are GUYS and like to stare at girls. End of story.

It’s a fact of life, nothing to be offended over.

!~Kalilamae, 14 year old female
16 Trinisa (Bob) on Nov 4th, 2007 said:

Of course it’s offensive, but the exploitation of women’s bodies in advertising is common. What pisses me off even more is that they’ve completely given up on trying to make it even remotely related to the product.
It is true that sex sells, but to throw two half naked women onto an ad rather than show off their product makes me skeptical about the quality of what they’re selling.
17 Marc on Nov 11th, 2007 said:

This advertisement isn’t sexist. Too often in today’s society do people automatically assume that when sex appeal is advertised that it is automatically sexist.
If the women were, lets say, on leashes being controlled by men, or if there was text stating that women should be scantly clad, it would be sexist. Basically, for something to be sexist, there must be a comparison between male and female, and one gender must be put in a position of lesser-worth. This picture ad shows no comparison.

This may however be found offensive. Some people innocently browsing the internet or reading a magazine might stumble across this ad and be disgusted by the amount of flesh that is shown. But then again, there are a lot of ads that show us things we don’t want to see, believe, or think about.

If this ad is offensive, it is offensive on terms of one’s personal definition of offensiveness which is something a company can only consider so much without actually hunting down every potential viewer and asking them what they find offensive.

Besides, if people enjoy it, then it is enjoyable. If not, then the ad will fail as an advertisement.
18 Dave on Nov 26th, 2007 said:

In todays conflcted society of celebrity decadence and, liberal guilt and religious fundamentalism there is a hair trigger response to everything. If you find this ad offensive, then we should ban the work of Degas, Goya, and most of the pre Raphelites.

When did a beautiful woman’s body become obscene?
19 synthhead on Nov 26th, 2007 said:

Dave

Nice thought - but I don’t remember the pre-Raphaelites doing booty shots.

If they had, I’m sure I would have done better in art class.
20 eryc on Jan 4th, 2008 said:

trinisa has a point…..what is deckdance or whatever….they should put the product in there somewhere

otherwise….this would be offensive if it pops up in the presentation at work, or on your computer in front of your girlfriend/boyfriend
it depends on the person…the real problem is maintaining a balance between discretion and free expression. just because you have a hot body and can show it off doesn’t mean you need to flash your heavenly region to drooling guys or vise versa. keep in mind, you don’t get free sex with this program (do you??? please tell me!!!!!!) so you should be a bit more careful with how you factor it in to your ad. though I’m 16 year old male….the pic threw me off a bit……dang!!!! did you really have to put it in my face????
21 Will L. on Jan 15th, 2008 said:

okay seriously…what century do we live in? you would have to be blind to say this ad is not offensive. it portrays these women as sex objects and not people. it also reinforces many stereotypes that our society has about women. wow…all I can say is grow up, stop living in the dark ages, and learn to value women for more than their looks.
22 Jake on Jan 28th, 2008 said:

Right on, Will! I’m with you: I’m pretty much appalled at most of the responses on here. Using this picture to sell anything other than bathing suits or some high price / low class resort is just puerile and lame. It’s pathetic that companies will use something like this, and lamer still that the average guy thinks it’s “cool” that they did. Makes me sad. It’s freaking DJ software, people! Time to evolve, primates. Give women some respect.
23 Christie on Feb 8th, 2008 said:

Thank you, Will and Jake, for the wake-up call to the previous posters. I couldn’t agree more with your statements more. What I find equally sad is the 14 year old girl who replied to this ad as if it were just a fact of life. The complete sexualization of everything from PETA ads to dj equipment makes a bold statement about our society…. and feel free to resort to name calling and throwing out “old fashioned” and “antiquated: about people who find this image — and the general flippancy about sex and body images — offensive and sad, but quite frankly, just because something has been accepted as “common” does not make it “normal.” I would much rather be considered “old fashioned” simply because others have swallowed whole the lies that the media and others shove in our faces about such things than to accept it as perfectly fine and not do anything to change it.
24 Yo on Jun 5th, 2008 said:

When your first foray into the world of DJ software fails miserably, ou need some ass to sell the product. Seriously this is the most unfinished piece of crap software I have ever tried to use. Not for pro-djs stay away from decadance!
25 spikypunker on Jul 2nd, 2008 said:

lol this advert is basically porn, and although i dont find it offensive in any way (i like porn) i think it’s pretty pathetic that a dj software company resorts to this to try and sell it’s software. I mean, it’s totally unrelated to the product, so therefore there’s nothing stopping every company doing the same and then we’d be surrounded by random porn all the time, then we’d all get pissed off a sexually frustrated haha.

But seriously yeah, if i was a dad i wouldnt want my young kids looking at this, it’s porn.
26 Darth Brando on Jul 21st, 2008 said:

Dude ok, grow up. Seriously, yea it is a little on the risque side but no more than today’s television advertisements. You want to see offensive advertisements, go to Europe or go look at some porn and then complain about that. Seriously yea this ad is a little naughty and all that but hey its the human body, we all have one. It only becomes objectification when you look at it from that stand point. One can also look at and admire the graphical and visual unity that the ad creates or one can say hey thats a nice a$$ and be a total objectifying pervert. The only thing about objectifying the female body is that not every one looks at it that way my friend. The Ad plays off of the fact that yea women are attractive but to classify them as objects is for the viewer to decide not the artist.
27 Chris Randall on Jul 22nd, 2008 said:

Personally, I don’t think this is near as offensive as that Jordan Rudess ad for Roland that’s been running on KvR for what seems like the last 15 years.

That said, I don’t know ’bout any “graphical and visual unity.” Reading too much in to this is the primrose path to madness. It’s a simple matter of a marketing mook saying “well, at least people will _look_ at the ad if we put some hot chicks in it, and it’s not like the 8 women in the music industry will mind, since they’re used to it.”
28 synthhead on Jul 22nd, 2008 said:

Chris - all true, but I have to agree with Andrea above, too:

Native Instruments doesn’t need ass-shots to sell Traktor, does it?
29 cass on Aug 11th, 2008 said:

ummm hello. you boys are a bunch of pervz!!! the photo would have been digitally enhanced to the max anyway, so pretty much these females dont exist when you think about it. (your smacking off to a cartoon really) This add is very offensive 2 any female with a brain. Theres no way that i would bye this product now because that would be supporting this advertisement and that would be disrespecting myself.
30 mavattene on Sep 7th, 2008 said:

To like a beautiful ass is one thing.
But to associate a beautiful ass, or anything beautiful for that matter, or beauty itself (which is even worse!), is really wrong.
I am offended by this perverted publicity, the perverted inclination f associating something attractive with decadance, or, seen from the other way, making the idea of decadance look beautiful.
I have this low way of advertisintg.
Company do seem to like to pervert things.
I don’t understaind why company put good things in a bad light, and bad things in a good light.
What’s so good in decadance that company seem to like so much.
they never make any virtue ook good. Only vices.
But it doesn’t matter, beause virtues don’t need to be put in a good light.
31 mavattene on Sep 7th, 2008 said:

>Sex sells

Oh really? and you have no problem with that, of course.
Who are we, to dislike the marvellouse free trade (that free us all)?
Just this simple fact, “sex sells”, and the fact that some are happy - or comfortable at all - about it, this adaptation to the lowest law of supply and demand, tells a lot about why people in some fantastic and liberal country give their ass for a living. Or for more and more money, perhaps. There is room for everyone, as long as you work hard. Hard with your ass.
32 jo mama on Sep 7th, 2008 said:

When you put that much ass in an ad for software it is the first indicator that the software is a steaming pile of shit. Secondly their demographic is wannabe hipster DJs who will eat that up with a spoon. So I believe that the firm that created this ad did their research and knew it was the only hope of even attracting attention to the product in the first place.

Yes, objectification of women is disrespectful but it is unfortunately common place and pretty much reduces everyone to lustful whorehounds in the eyes of advertising agencies everywhere. But hey, they wouldn’t do it if it didn’t work……
33 Zt on Sep 8th, 2008 said:

As a female and a DJ I find such advertising alienating. And it might not have anything to do with my sex/gender: I too think that since the actual product is nowhere to be seen, it must be rubbish. In addition, the advert also reads that the company is old fashioned, uninnovative and thinks all their customers are male and heterosexual. Boring!

And as for hipsters… they wouldn’t touch that with a stick. The ad looks way too mainstream.
34 Magnus on Sep 8th, 2008 said:

I remerber the same image being used for a Time&Space sample CD ad in Future Music about 6-7 years ago…
35 Jean-Marie Cannie on Sep 9th, 2008 said:

Hi,

With all respect but the girls are an eye catcher (that obvoiusly worked) for the screenshot and features that are below.

Cutting those off says a lot about the intentions of the writer.

Anyway : Here’s the actual ad :

http://www.deckadance.com/LogosAndArtwork/DeckadanceAdd800px.jpg

If anyone feels offended I’ll hereby apologize but we have limited budgets and as these ads cost a fortune … we want them to be seen.

Regards,

Jean-Marie Cannie
Image-Line Software

Kortrijksesteenweg 281
9830 Sint-Martens-Latem
Belgium

Tel : 32 9 281 15 33
Fax : 32 9 281 15 01
Email : jmc@image-line.com
Web : http://www.image-line.com
36 Pendragon on Oct 26th, 2008 said:

I don’t quite know how to take this. And I do realize it’s been a while since this thread was commented on. As a woman, I wonder how, exactly, am I supposed to want to USE this product, if it’s portraying other women ass objects.

I’m attending College, and I’m in a sociology class, and we’re talking about this sort of thing, and so I’m taking it with a grain of salt. Looking at the full add did sway my opinion a bit, but not by much. I thought that people were trying to attract more women into technical outlets, trying to get women to be a larger force in the electronics industry. How is this ad, and the millions of others like it out there, supposed to make me want to purchase and use this product?

Just an observation…
37 Peter Morgan on Oct 26th, 2008 said:

Jean Marie, try and get the horizon level next time, ok?
38 Sean Damian on Oct 30th, 2008 said:

Okay, EVRYONE can throw a stone at me for this. I am an FL Studio producer who has got quite a few fans and a bit of notoriety within the IMageline community. I take full responsibility for IMageline’s use of these advertising tactics.

I posted a mix I produced in the Imageline forum with a controversial title… “Pay Attention Folks, THIS Is How You Get A Record Contract!”

The flame war ensued with critics abound and I ended up posting a few photos of myself nude (but censored) and a few photos of me and my girlfriend in some very provocative positions. To make a long story short, that thread, that one thread at the forum smashed records for views by an astonishing (last time I checked) little over 20,000 hits. (The average thread gets anywhere from 50-250 hits. An exceptional piece of music/thread will get 1000-2000 hits)

Jean-Marie Cannie and the other folks at Imageline know full well who I am because of that thread. It got so ridiculous that Imagline eventually locked the thread so no one could reply to it anymore.

But through that thread I taught them a huge lesson… CONTROVERSY WORKS!

Look people, irregardless of what that particular advertisement/image portrays in each individual mind out there, and the fact that Imageline has gone public with an apology… they don’t care who it offended! See, now Dekadance has a name that people recognize just a little more… maybe even for the wrong reasons but who gives a flying phuck when all they wanted was to be noticed! Sometimes when you are the new kid on the block it makes sense to make a little noise… otherwise people may just not notice you! See while all of you converse back and forth about the right or wrong of it all… it keeps you talking about it. See how that works? DOH!

I myself am done making noise just to get noticed. I let the music speak for me now and that is working out JUST FINE!

http://www.last.fm/music/Sean Damian/Back From The Dead …again

Produced entirely using FL Studio… I hope you enjoy!
39 Cj Texture on Nov 1st, 2008 said:

Sean Damian

Ok the situation is little lol… although damian you said the RIGHT! thing… controversy, shock, or whatever people wants to call it… that picture is nice, it looks like a CD cover… and for god sakes it´s AD, who the hell is going to be offended by this… my little sister (9 years old) saw the photo and she said she wanted to be like those girls when she grows up…

For all the !”·$!·&% that writted !”·$!·% about the photo

Instead of blaming image line, why dont you shut your fingers and start considering how phucked up is the people and shutting down free porn pages like youporn, killing all the rapist, and do something for your community…

Not blame IL for some AD… im a FL user and you know what those people rules! Hail FL & IL

sorry if i have bad spelling… im from Venezuela…. and not a chavez fan… so don´t even ask….

BTW sean excelent music! my congrats

http://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ECMTEXTURE
40 Kari on Nov 12th, 2008 said:

This ad, along with a million others, is downright offensive. Does it take an almost naked woman to sell products? No it does not, however, advertisers are geared at selling anything to the 18-34 yr old male, and will take whatever measures are necessary. The argument that sex sells is b.s and doesn’t make this type of advertising right. The women in this ad have been reduced to asses and breasts, and merely exist for some man’s pleasure. Who are they? What is their story? We don’t even know what their faces look like.
For the guy that mentioned showing this to his 9 yr old niece/daughter/whatever, don’t you think it’s disturbing that this is what she wants to look like when she’s older? Our young girls are being marketed unattainable beauty standards, and constantly being told that there is something wrong with them. Only 8% of American women look like the models in print, the other 92% look more like me and you. This is the 92% that constitutes the women that are our sisters, wifes, mothers, co-workers, girlfriends, daughters, doctors, etc, etc.
41 vecktor on Jan 6th, 2009 said:

Any female whom would come on here, giving crap to this guy, about this image post, has to be:

* Fat
* Repulsive
* Lonely [For male companionship]
* Angry
* In angst
* And: Jealous, because they DON’T, look anything like the 2 hotties on the c.d. cover.. Remember this: The femmes posing for the cover, didn’t have a gun held to their head, nor were they being exploited to pose for the cover: THEY ARE [ 2 hot, sexy curvaceous, supple] MODELS: AND MODELS [of such status & caliber] WILL DO, WHAT MODELS WILL D [of such status & caliber] O: LIGHTEN UP: Enjoy the sexy cover, or don’t, but don’t come on here being asinine, with the “tude”, thinking that those 2 femme models were being exploited, because they weren’t: They made their “pile o dough” for the cover pose, & have moved on with their lively hood: How about those of you whom are jealous?….
42 cookieJar on Jan 8th, 2009 said:

The most offensive thing is the crap photoshop clone job…
As for the T&A.. I think that a big part of the market for this software is house DJs, and since most house flyer/cd artwork consists of shiny looking T&A scantily clad in bikinis and high heels, it makes perfect sense.

VERY amateurish compositing though… shameful even
43 SydneyGentleman on Jan 28th, 2009 said:

Unbelievable. People are still so retarded and backward that they think a picture can be sexist. Idiots. The only reason it got all this crap debate about it is because they are attractive women. If they were men, no one would say anything.

Get a grip.
44 synthhead on Jan 28th, 2009 said:

SydneyGentleman - if it was a close up of a guy’s ass in a thong, you can bet that Synthtopia readers would have something to say about it!
45 Kadavaroyar on Jan 31st, 2009 said:

Exploitatation of female anatomical features..As long as it is hidden it will be curious..Dont unfold the sanctity of motherhood..please..
46 suu2Ahwa on Mar 27th, 2009 said:

I hate the commercials that have porn on them. They usually get my attention, and I order or this crap. I have hundreds of bras at my home and what am I going to do with the fresh DJ stuff I just bought.
47 mildheadwound on May 4th, 2009 said:

The image is actually relevant to the add. It's called 'deckadance' like a pun, (definitely the lowest form of humour), of decadence. Which means in excess. Not one hottie but two. Coming out of a pool, as big as the ocean. It's saying more about excess then women as objects. The fact that they just happen to be objects, is completely irrelevant.
48 Guest on May 11th, 2009 said:

Personally, I don't find it offensive.
It's not going to make me buy the product either.

The most it's going to achieve is getting the horny males (or females) looking at the page a couple of times and maybe they'll notice the Deckadance logo (butt (sic) probably not).

Waste of advertising money really …
49 DJ the Dumb Jock on May 15th, 2009 said:

Never saw up the crack of an ass in Degas, Goya or any pre-Raphaelite. It's not the beauty of bodies that is at issue, IMHO. It is the exploitation of an unrealistic expectation of beauty that leads to some seriously warped heads throughout our society. That being said I found the play oof words to be amusing
50 nick chan on May 21st, 2009 said:

It's sexist, not offensive. However, this is the result of "deviated feminism movement". Women thinks feminism is about freedom to flash their boobs. Deviated feminism has caused wide usage of women as sex symbol in MTVs, ads, bla bla bla. Yeah, freedom to women
51 Mark on May 30th, 2009 said:

I have man boobs…not gonna flash 'em for an advert, no one would buy the product!
52 Shelley on Jun 2nd, 2009 said:

Yeah, ads are selling things and in this ad women ARE portrayed as things. Doesn't that bother you, because it should. What do electronics have to do with sex and partial nudity? And how ridiculous would this ad seem to you if it were two partially nude men (with that in mind, tell me it isn't sexist)? Ads don't just sell a product but a culture where women are second class citizens. If you are okay with being seen as nothing more than a sexual object, I feel sorry for you.
53 Esol Esek on Jun 3rd, 2009 said:

As a guy with a current gf, and a history, I have to say that while summer makes me want to chase more tail, in the end, I do NOT do everything to get into women's pants. I live near a strip club, and there are tricks and hotties - the two are not the same. I play music because I love music, and I want to get famous to have fun, and yeah hot women are part of that equation, but so is money, travel, excitement, and experience, and leaving hot women behind…so lets not give the hot women more than they deserve, which ain't much, especially the ones who expect it….I'm not offended by this ad, but I think it's stupid, and to me it says gear sold by cheesy dudes who don't get much action who want to make rap videos. Women can be far more sexy with a t-shirt (not wet) on…these moronic crotch shots are trashy…but I'm sure it does get the attention of horny teens who think their gear will get them laid…
54 ludwyng on Jun 3rd, 2009 said:

I agree!! this ad would have been better served if the women were destroying vinyl records and CDs with headphones on and a laptop somewhere in the pic! as for the girls, let them wear what they want.

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