If you have ventured lately though the underground at Bloor Station, the Diesel campaign across from Holt Renfrew probably caught your eye. This picture disturbed me for some reason, but I couldn’t put my finger on why until the image suddenly came back to mind during a “deviance” lecture in sociology class.
For those with eyes wide shut going through the subway, the poster displays two women standing with whips, and in the background a man (smiling) with a tic-tac-toe game beaten into his back. This ad disturbs me because Diesel is suggesting that you can derive pleasure not only just from wearing those jeans, but also from being flogged while wearing them.
Intrigued by this wayward image, I searched for the poster on Diesel’s web page. A cause for greater concern arose in me when the campaign slogan to this picture appeared on the screen: “Unlock the door to Individual Hedonistic Pleasure Pursuits.” The moral flaw in Diesel’s campaign is that the poster corrupts the concept of pleasure, turning it into something that is gained by bringing pain to others. To me, beating someone while wearing jeans should not be promoted as an acceptable form of pleasure, simply because it undermines the basic “social contract” which binds society together.
Yes, I readily admit I overanalyzed the ad, but for good reason. My purpose was to demonstrate that Diesel has cleverly constructed the message that individuals should do whatever they want to achieve pleasure, no matter the consequences for others. Diesel stretches the concept of individual liberty by encouraging people to inflict pain on others to reach their own state of happiness. Viewers may not consciously internalize such a message, but on a subconscious level they very well could.
More worrisome if they do is that they have the free will to pursue their pleasures. Most people will be satisfied with just buying Diesel Jeans, but what about those who are not? Will they go further, as Diesel impishly suggests, towards “unlocking” their deviant desires? Let’s hope not.
