Give her flowers, get sex in return. It's that simple, right? According to Teleflora's Super Bowl spot, released February 2nd, yes.
The ad depicts bombshell supermodel Adriana Lima (of Victoria's Secret fame) putting on her evening wear in the most seductive way in the history of getting dressed. She pulls on her stockings in one smooth motion (physically impossible, am I right? How do they not snag on her toes at least once?), buckles her garter, slips on her red-soled heels and spends a few seconds showing off her cleavage in the mirror and sexy-smirking at the flower arrangement on her dresser.
She then delivers the spot's kicker:
"Guys, Valentine's Day is not that complicated. Give and you shall receive."
Anyone else left with more than a bad taste in their mouth?
All the apparent swarms of men out there trying to figure out how to get the stifling, expensive faux-romance of Valentine's Day to actually lead to sex now have a brilliant answer -- buy some (ugly) flowers from Teleflora! And treat your significant other as an object you have to manipulate into having sex with you while you're at it.
I'm pretty sure that most couples don't see their relationships as quite so transactional. And beyond the shallow assumptions made about men in the ad (why don't we ever seem to give guys the credit they deserve when it comes to interacting with women romantically?), Teleflora is delivering a pretty dangerous message -- that if women have been given a gift or taken out for the night, they owe the giver something sexual in return.
When women sleep with their boyfriends, husbands or casual Valentine's dates, they do so because it's a pleasurable experience for both parties involved -- floral arrangements are pretty irrelevant.
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Many men think that some over the top expensive gift, spa day, tons of candy, or expensive rock are needed. By using a woman like Adriana Lima they are doing two things.
1.) Her looks grab attention.
2.) A woman of her fame and looks would be pleased with flowers.... then a more modest woman would probably be pleased as well.
A mature man in a LTR/marriage will think that what he receives is a pleased woman who will not nag him about getting something nice.
I've known men who really expected women to "put out" because they bought those women dinner. One man I had considered a friend told me without a hint of unease or remorse that he had driven a woman out in the country and then literally kicked her out of his car because she refused to sleep with him after an "expensive" date. This ad does nothing to discourage that type of thinking.
As a man, I've taken issue with all the ads that depict men as clueless, unhelpful, and uncaring, such as where the man cannot make a piece of toast without a woman's help, or is willing to let a child drown in the filth of her diaper because he doesn't care enough to think to change her and of course the woman comes along with a scornful look and does the right thing that the man has neglected. These messages--woman good and smart, man dumb and selfishly stupid--have not done anything to advance the necessary conversations about our relationships.
I have to say, though, that I was transfixed watching this soft-core porn featuring Adriana Lima. In that respect, these advertisers know what they're doing.