On a scale of inappropriateness, sex in advertising has reached an all-time high.
    At the movie theater or on prime-time television, consumers can watch a Levi’s Jeans commercial in horror.
    The girl on screen appears to be between 12 and 14. She unbuttons her jeans and encourages a boy to do the same in an attempt to get him to do something he is not sure about.
    By the end of the commercial, viewers realize the couple intends to jump off the edge of a pier. The final shot is from underwater looking back up toward the surface as the girl treads water in lace panties.
    This ad should be pulled from the air, as its sexual overtones are blatantly obvious.
    It promotes not only teen sex but also the ideology that young girls must aggressively seek sex to be popular or liked by boys. The popularity this type of behavior promotes is not the type young women should be seeking.
    Girls who behave in this manner will never find boys who like them for more than sex or who want to be with them for any length of time. Advertisers are absolutely wrong for promoting it.
    Music videos are another form of advertising that have hit an all-time high of inappropriate dress and behavior. For example, Rihanna’s song “Disturbia” was enjoyable when it first came out.
    However, after watching the music video of a woman dressed in a prostitute’s outfit, complete with fishnet pantyhose and a corset, it makes me sick to hear it.
    This video sends the message to teenagers that women must dress and act like prostitutes to be heard and recognized. Surely women are more intelligent than this video portrays.
    There are countless innovative videos that do not have women who look and act like prostitutes to sell their music, and sexually explicit videos show a lack of creativity.
    Federal law states the advertisement must be understood by the “average consumer.” The Levi’s Jeans commercial is supposed to sell jeans, not teen sex.
    Rihanna is supposed to sell her song “Disturbia.” The words do not have any reference to prostitution, so the video should be free of references to it.
    If people would complain to the Federal Communications Commission when they viewed offensive commercials or programs, like the public did with Janet Jackson during her Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, the FCC would immediately pull it off the air.
    Though you do not need to complain about an advertisement for the FCC to investigate it, it helps. The FCC only can determine something is inappropriate or misleading through precedent.
    If an ad is questionable and no one complains about it, the FCC will let it air. When the public complains that an ad or television show is offensive or inappropriate, the FCC has the ability to remove it from the air until a thorough investigation has been completed.
    To lodge a complaint go to www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumers.html. The more complaints the FCC receives, the more accurately it can monitor inappropriate content on the airwaves.



Corene Brisendine is a junior in mass communications. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu