The London Olympics are due to start this Friday.
This is an opportunity to ask a before and after question: how will the United Kingdom be changed by the Games?
From an advertising point of view I think we are about to enter (have already entered) a sustained period of body fascism in which models with unattainable physiques are used to sell products, places, things.
Above: for instance, a near-naked Adam Senn has been featured for some months to advertise the Dolce & Gabbana Sport fragrance. Everything about this ad is heroic - full page, full colour, colossal creative impact. The subliminal message of the ad is that you only have to splash on some of the magic liquid and you will also be transformed into a perfect physical form (without the tedium of doing any exercise).
There was something about the composition of this image that seemed familiar. And then I realised that this is an updated version of Guido Reni's St Sebastian. Considering this appeared on the back page of the Observer (one of our most atheist newspapers) this is a very seditious campaign.
Above: Guido Reni's St Sebastian. One of the most complex and influential paintings of the Rennaissance. Not just a religious image, but also claimed by others (see http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/arrows-of-desire-how-did-st-sebastian-become-an-enduring-homoerotic-icon-779388.html).
Above: the Guido Reni painting has inspired artists as varied as Yukio Mishima (left) and Pierre et Gilles (right).
This is an opportunity to ask a before and after question: how will the United Kingdom be changed by the Games?
From an advertising point of view I think we are about to enter (have already entered) a sustained period of body fascism in which models with unattainable physiques are used to sell products, places, things.
Above: for instance, a near-naked Adam Senn has been featured for some months to advertise the Dolce & Gabbana Sport fragrance. Everything about this ad is heroic - full page, full colour, colossal creative impact. The subliminal message of the ad is that you only have to splash on some of the magic liquid and you will also be transformed into a perfect physical form (without the tedium of doing any exercise).
There was something about the composition of this image that seemed familiar. And then I realised that this is an updated version of Guido Reni's St Sebastian. Considering this appeared on the back page of the Observer (one of our most atheist newspapers) this is a very seditious campaign.
Above: Guido Reni's St Sebastian. One of the most complex and influential paintings of the Rennaissance. Not just a religious image, but also claimed by others (see http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/arrows-of-desire-how-did-st-sebastian-become-an-enduring-homoerotic-icon-779388.html).
Above: the Guido Reni painting has inspired artists as varied as Yukio Mishima (left) and Pierre et Gilles (right).
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